OTHER  BOOKS 
BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

STAINED  GLASS  TOURS  IN  FRANCE 
STAINED  GLASS  TOURS  IN  ENGLAND 
A  STAINED  GLASS  TOUR  IN  ITALY 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

OF 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 


*•***."•'     '   rtjenerral  Rochambeau. 

After  a  sk'etcli  attributed  to  De  Fersen,  aide-de-camp  to  Rochainf>eau. 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

OF 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 


BY 

CHARLES   H.   SHERRILL 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1915 


FOREWORD 

IF  the  reader  be  not  pleased  with  the  following 
sketch  of  early  American  customs,  he  should  blame 
a  certain  ancient  sofa,  and  not  the  author !    For  it 
was  the  said  sofa  that  caused  these  lines  to  be 
written,  and  it  came  about  in  this  way:    Among 
some  old  furniture  handed  down  in  our  family  is  an 
unusually  long  mahogany  sofa,  upon  which,  says 
tradition,  General  Lafayette  frequently  sat  when 
he  came  to  take  tea.     Tradition  further  alleged 
that  in  the  memoirs  of  some  Frenchman  (name  not 
given)  this  fact  was  set  forth  at  length.     Curi 
osity  to  read  what  this  unknown  had  to  say  upon 
the  subject  led  through  such  pleasant  literary 
country  that  soon  the  original  purpose  ^  of  the 
quest  gave  way  to  a  constantly  growing  interest 
in  these  memoirs  and  records  of  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  from  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington  till  the  transfer  of  the  Federal  Government 
to  the  city  of  Washington.     While  studying  an 
cient  stained  glass  the  author  gradually  realized 
that  the  art's  advanced  state  at  the  beginning  was 
due  to  its  being  merely  mosaic  transferred  from 
the  wall  to  a  window  so  that  the  light  could  shine 

[  vii  ] 


FOREWORD 

through,  thus  enhancing  its  color  value.  What  he 
has  tried  to  do  in  this  case  is  to  collect  the  mosaic 
out  of  dusty  archives  and  ancient  books,  and  then 
set  it  up  where  the  light  of  to-day  could  shine 
through  these  bright  memories  and  reveal  a  com 
pleted  picture  of  our  ancestors  and  their  times 
colored  to  the  life.  Although  no  reader  of  this 
book  can  ever  receive  therefrom  one-tenth  the 
pleasure  it  gave  in  the  writing,  nevertheless,  the 
author  hopes  that  it  may  serve  to  encourage  more 
and  frequent  journeys  into  the  literary  country  it 
maps — perhaps  those  journeys  will  justify  the 
writing  of  the  book. 

CHARLES  H.  SHERRILL. 

20  East  65th  Street,  New  York  City, 
September  1,  1915. 


viii  ] 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

DEDICATION v 

FOREWORD vii 

CHAPTER  I 
OUR  FRENCH  VISITORS 1 

CHAPTER  II 

DANCING,  VISITS,  Music,  CARDS,  CONVERSATION,  ETI 
QUETTE       31 

CHAPTER  III 

DRESS  AND  FRENCH  FASHIONS.     COURTSHIP  AND  MAR 
RIAGE    54 

CHAPTER  IV 

WHAT  OUR  ANCESTORS  ATE  AND  DRANK;  THEIR  CUS 
TOM  OF  TOASTS,  ETC 74 

CHAPTER  V 

AMERICAN  PHYSICAL  TRAITS  AND  TEMPERAMENT,  AND 
THE  EFFECT  OF  OUR  CLIMATE 108 

CHAPTER  VI 

CITY     LIFE,     AND     ESPECIALLY     IN     PHILADELPHIA, 
CHARLESTON,  AND  BOSTON 135 

[ix] 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  VII 

PAGE 

CITY  LIFE  (CONTINUED).  NEWPORT,  PROVIDENCE, 
HARTFORD,  NEW  HAVEN,  ALBANY,  BALTIMORE,  NEW 
YORK,  NEW  ORLEANS,  AND  WASHINGTON  .  .  .  157 

CHAPTER  VIII 
COUNTRY  LIFE 181 

CHAPTER  IX 
TRAVEL — ITS  CONVENIENCES  AND  INCONVENIENCES   .     205 

CHAPTER  X 

EDUCATION.  COLLEGES,  NEWSPAPERS,  INTEREST  IN 
PUBLIC  AFFAIRS 232 

CHAPTER  XI 
RELIGIOUS  OBSERVANCES 261 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  LEARNED  PROFESSIONS:  LAW,  MEDICINE,  ARCHI 
TECTURE,  ETC 274 

CHAPTER  XIII 

LABOR,  MANUFACTURE,  MERCHANT  MARINE,  AND  FOR 
EIGN  TRADE 288 

CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  ALLIED  ARMIES 307 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

FRENCH  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  AND  RECORDS  EX 
AMINED  329 

[x] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

General  Rochambeau Frontispiece 

After  a  sketch  attributed  to  De  Fersen,  aide-de-camp  to  Rochambeau. 

FACING  PAGE 

Due  de  Lauzun 10 

From  the  painting  of  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  by  John  Trumbull,  in 
the  Yale  School  of  Fine  Arts. 

Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld 24 

From  a  drawing  by  J.  Gu6rin. 

City  dancing  assembly  invitation 32 

From  the  original  in  the  possession  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl- 


Elizabeth  Bowdoin  (Mrs.  Temple) 36 

From  the  original  crayon,  by  John  Singleton  Copley,  in  possession  of 
Winthrop  Tappan. 

The  Red  Lion  Tavern,  near  Philadelphia,  as  it  is  at  pres 
ent,  where  a  "frolick  de  melons"  was  held  annually  in 
August 38 

Richard  Peters .     .       42 

From  the  painting  by  Rembrandt  Peale  in  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts. 

Head-dresses  of  the  eighteenth  century 60 

Comte  de  Segur 78 

From  a  portrait  appearing  in  his  volume  of  "M6moires." 

The  New  Theatre,  Philadelphia .     140 

From  an  old  print  in  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

[xi] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

View  of  Second  Street,  north  from  Market  Street,  with 
Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  about  1804       ....     146 

Boston — as  shown  in  an  early  print 154 

From  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

Saint  John  de  Crevecceur,  1786 174 

The  United  States  Capitol  at  Washington 178 

From  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

Mercy  Warren,  wife  of  General  Warren 238 

From  the  painting  by  Copley. 

The  colleges  at  Cambridge 240 

After  the  engraving  by  S.  Hill  in  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

Ezra  Stiles,  president  of  Yale 242 

From  the  portrait  by  Reuben  Moulthrop,  1794. 

Buildings  of  Yale  College,  New  Haven 244 

From  the  engraving  by  A.  P.  Doolittle,  1807. 

Nassau  Hall 248 

After  an  old  print  which  appears  in  "An  Account  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  1764." 

Dartmouth  College,  showing  chapel  and  hall   ....     252 

From  the  engraving  by  S.  Hill  in  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

City  election  at  the  State-house,  Philadelphia      ...     258 

From  the  original  water-color  by  John  Lewis  Krimmell  in  the  hall  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

State-house,  Philadelphia,  1778 286 

From  an  old  print  in  the  collection  of  Charles  A.  Munn. 

Lafayette 308 

From  a  portrait  painted  by  C.  W.  Peale,  in  1780,  for  Washington. 

Reduced    from    copperplates    of    French    sketches    of 
American  military  types 320 

From  the  collection  of  the  author. 

[xii] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

OF 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 
OUR  FRENCH  VISITORS 

"  OH  !  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us  to  see 
oursel's  as  ithers  see  us,"  sang  Rurns.  If  ye  will, 
gentle  readers,  ye  may  have  the  "giftie"  for  the 
taking,  if  your  wish  be  to  see  how  "ithers"  saw  us 
during  those  formative  years  when  our  national 
liberty  was  being  heated  in  the  melting-pot  of 
war,  and  poured  into  the  mould  of  constitutional 
government.  And  what  other  nation  can  show 
such  friendly,  such  sympathetically  appreciative 
historians,  such  kindly  "ithers"  as  were  the 
French  who  wrote  of  us  in  those  days  when  our 
nation  "lay  a-borning"?  The  spirit  in  which 
they  set  about  their  study  of  us  is  well  expressed 
by  the  Comte  de  Segur  to  his  wife:  "I  conform 
to  their  habits,  I  respect  their  customs,  for  that 
is  the  only  way  to  know  the  Americans  well." 

There  are  two  entirely  different  ways  in  which 
to  write  history.  One  is  the  time-honored  manner 
of  the  "one-man  book,"  a  picture  of  some  portion 
of  a  nation's  life  drawn  by  one  pen,  and  from  the 
sole  point  of  view  of  one  author.  But  is  this 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

method  as  truly  descriptive  of  the  people  de 
scribed  as  it  would  be  if,  instead  of  being  limited 
to  one  author's  thought  upon  the  subject,  it  could 
be  broadened  so  as  to  include  the  points  of  view 
of  many  observers  from  widely  differing  angles 
— foreign  observers  preferably,  so  as  to  secure  im 
partiality?  In  other  words,  to  construct  a  con 
temporary  mosaic  picture  made  up  of  bits  struck 
off  from  many  men's  brains !  Although  beset 
with  difficulties,  would  not  such  a  task,  if  accom 
plished,  possibly  be  fuller  in  its  truthfulness  than 
the  story  of  any  one  historian  P 

And  what  are  these  difficulties?  First,  there 
must  exist  a  sufficient  number  of  reports  upon  the 
particular  epoch  under  consideration;  next,  the 
writers  must  be  so  diversified  in  character  and 
type  as  to  assure  a  wide  scope  of  material;  then 
the  period  selected  must  have  possessed  such  in 
terest  abroad  as  to  arouse  the  best  and  most 
sympathetic  interest  in  these  foreign  narrators; 
and,  lastly — most  awesome  difficulty  of  all — the 
work  of  compilation  that  such  a  history  with  so 
many  roots  must  entail ! 

But  in  our  case  all  these  difficulties  dissolve  into 
thin  air,  like  a  mirage  in  the  desert,  when  we  ap 
proach  and  examine  them.  The  life  of  the  Ameri 
can  people  during  the  quarter  of  a  century  which 
elapsed  between  the  battle  of  Lexington  (1775) 
and  the  installation  of  the  Federal  Government 

[2] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

at  the  new  city  of  Washington  (1800)  was  of  such 
engrossing  interest  to  the  French  as  not  only  to 
produce  a  series  of  about  seventy  memoirs,  but 
also  to  insure  that  their  authors'  acute  minds 
were  keenly  aroused  to  the  scenes  taking  place 
under  their  eyes.  So  interesting  are  these  human 
documents  that  the  most  forbidding  difficulty  of 
all — the  work  of  compilation — proves  to  be  a  de 
lightful  occupation,  a  labor  of  love.  And  then 
as  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  writers  of  sufficiently 
diversified  type,  we  shall  be  met  with  a  most 
delightful  surprise.  Although  the  authors  con 
sulted  were  all  Frenchmen,  so  many  were  the 
angles  from  which  they  observed,  and  so  greatly 
did  their  points  of  view  differ,  that,  taken  to 
gether,  their  observations  cover  the  entire  field 
with  amazing  completeness.  Not  only  can  we 
draw  from  the  narrative  of  ordinary  travellers, 
but  also  from  all  sorts  of  specialized  and  contrast 
ing  types — a  royalist  exile  like  the  Due  de  La 
Rochefoucauld,  or  Brissot,  the  Girondin  repub 
lican,  a  eulogistic  marquis,  or  a  captiously  criti 
cal  philosopher,  a  botanist,  a  geologist,  a  book 
seller,  or  a  farmer — from  Crevecceur,  who  lived 
so  long  among  us  as  to  spoil  his  French,  and  the 
Comte  de  Revel,  who  spent  only  twenty-four 
days  in  our  land  (all  in  the  trenches  at  Yorktown), 
from  the  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne,  the  Minister 
who  greatly  admired  us,  to  Beaumarchais,  the 

[3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

government  agent,  who  sometimes  ridiculed  us — 
as  perhaps  was  to  be  expected  from  the  author  of 
"The  Barber  of  Seville"  !  Nor  are  we  limited  to 
these  memoirs,  numerous  though  they  be,  in  pre 
paring  this  sketch  of  our  country's  yesterday  as 
seen  through  French  eyes,  for  the  archives  of  the 
various  departments  of  the  French  Government 
are  filled  with  a  rich  store  of  reports  of  those  times 
written  home  by  diplomats,  soldiers,  and  sailors. 
Then,  too,  there  are  many  private  letters,  some 
published  and  more  unpublished,  which  lend  in 
timate  touches  so  necessary  to  our  picture  of  the 
long  ago.  Surely  no  important  epoch  of  any 
country's  life  has  ever  been  so  fully  or  so  sym 
pathetically  described  by  the  people  of  another 
nation. 

Many  French  writers  upon  America  have  pur 
posely  been  left  unquoted  because  the  authors 
wrote  at  second  hand,  and  had  not  themselves 
visited  our  country  and  seen  conditions  with 
their  own  eyes.  Obviously,  they  do  not  serve  our 
purpose  so  well  as  the  writings  of  the  men  who 
lived  with  and  fought  alongside  our  ancestors, 
and  brought  away  with  them  that  indescribable 
something  which  Kipling  says  ever  exists  when 
two  strong  men  meet — the  bond  of  human  sym 
pathy.  Then,  too,  sundry  of  the  writers  are  of 
small  value  to  us  because  they  were  so  engaged 
in  recording  military  details  as  to  include  little 

[4] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

or  nothing  about  the  life  of  their  American  friends ; 
some  of  these,  like  Admiral  de  Grasse,  and  Bou 
gainville  (whose  memory  is  delightfully  embalmed 
in  the  gorgeous  purple-flowered  vine  that  bears 
his  name)  were  engaged  in  naval  conflicts  off  our 
coast,  and  lacked  land  service  in  America  during 
the  period  we  have  chosen.  We  have  left  un 
touched  the  literature  describing  such  French  set 
tlements  in  America  as  Asylum,  Scioto,  etc.,  for 
the  obvious  reason  that  their  customs  were  French, 
not  American. 

A  most  important  fact  added  by  these  personal 
narratives  to  the  general  history  of  the  period  is 
that  although  the  French  Government  was  un 
doubtedly  swayed  by  political  considerations  in 
lending  assistance  to  America,  hoping  thus  to 
strike  England  in  a  vital  spot,  it  is  obviously  true 
that  these  individual  French  annalists  were  in 
spired  not  only  by  disinterested  friendship,  but 
also  by  a  cordial  interest  in  our  new  experiment 
at  liberty.  They  were  allies  of  the  heart,  not  of 
the  scheming  brain.  Says  Brissot  in  his  preface: 
"You  will  see  in  this  book  of  travels  the  prodig 
ious  effect  of  liberty  upon  customs,  industry,  and 
the  improvement  of  the  human  race.  This  is  the 
encouraging  picture  which  these  travels  will  offer 
to  the  friends  of  liberty."  Indeed,  so  genuine 
was  their  regard  for  their  American  friends  as  to 
blind  them  to  many  unrelated  faults,  and  to  leave 

[5] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

their  narratives  more  flattering  than  our  ancestors 
deserved — a  very  agreeable  discretion  on  their  part, 
say  we  1 

One  feels  vastly  more  interest  in  a  tale  told  by 
one  of  our  own  friends  than  by  an  unknown — the 
story  at  once  ceases  to  be  impersonal  and  takes  on 
an  intimate  flavor.  So,  without  delay,  let  us  pro 
ceed  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  these  friendly 
eighteenth-century  Frenchmen  before  we  settle 
ourselves  to  hear  their  engaging  comments  upon 
our  ancestors.  A  most  delightful  group  of  person 
alities  they  will  prove  to  be,  alike  only  in  being 
Frenchmen  and  in  their  friendly  attitude  to  the 
customs  and  people  of  the  new-born  American  re 
public,  but  in  every  other  respect  a  most  diver 
sified  gathering. 

We  shall  find  that  they  will  naturally  fall  into 
groups  of  varying  size,  either  by  reason  of  their 
professions,  personal  traits,  inclinations,  or  turns 
of  thought.  Some  of  them,  like  Talleyrand, 
Chateaubriand,  or  Segur,  were  already  on  the 
road  to  brilliant  futures  and  the  Temple  of  Fame; 
while  others,  like  Brissot,  Custine,  de  Broglie, 
and  de  Lauzun,  will  be  forever  sadly  grouped  in 
our  memory  as  fellow  victims  of  the  guillotine. 

Many  of  them  were  of  the  warrior  caste,  but 
(anomalous  though  it  be)  it  is  from  those  devoted 
to  this  stern  profession  that  we  shall  glean  most 
of  our  lighter  hints  of  American  life.  While  some 

[6] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

came  here  to  fight,  still  others  left  home  because 
of  civil  strife  in  France — temporary  exiles  await 
ing  on  our  hospitable  shores  the  return  of  more 
peaceful  conditions  in  the  Old  World.  More  than 
a  few  will  prove  to  have  visited  our  land  equipped 
with  a  philosophical  turn  of  mind,  for  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  to  be  a  philosopher  was  a  repu 
tation  then  highly  esteemed.  A  few  were  natural 
ists  and  seekers  after  facts  connected  with  re 
claiming  the  wilderness,  and  new  conditions  of 
soil  and  climate,  so  full  of  interest  to  inhabitants 
of  lands  where  nature  had  long  been  servant  of 
man.  A  few  were  merchants,  to  whom  commerce 
and  its  opportunities  vastly  overshadowed  all 
other  human  interests.  One  only  was  a  woman, 
the  Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  but  her  pen 
pictures  are  the  best  of  all — so  gay,  so  brave,  so 
discriminating. 

It  is  for  us  to  make  the  first  advances  to  these 
folk  of  two  centuries  ago,  so,  hat  in  hand,  let  us 
approach  the  first  group,  and  make  the  acquain 
tance  of  those  representatives  of  the  warrior  caste 
sent  to  our  aid  by  Louis  XVI. 

At  their  head  stands  the  steady,  resourceful 
commander-in-chief  of  the  land  forces,  General 
Rochambeau,  already  well  on  in  age  and  experi 
ence  when  he  was  selected  by  his  king  to  command 
the  little  French  army  of  six  thousand  men  landed 
in  Providence,  R.  I.,  to  aid  the  struggling  colonists. 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Close  by  him  is  the  charming  but  irresponsible 
Marquis  de  Chastellux,  welcomed  everywhere  by 
Americans  of  every  rank  in  life,  and  delightfully 
responsive  in  his  account  of  this  welcome.  When 
he  officiously  wrote  to  the  French  Minister,  criti 
cising  Rochambeau,  and  telling  that  the  plan  of 
the  allies  was  to  attack  New  York  City,  the 
letter  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who,  de 
ceived  as  was  Chastellux  regarding  our  real  pur 
pose,  returned  it  to  Rochambeau.  Most  sig 
nificant  of  that  general's  character  and  knowledge 
of  men  was  his  handling  of  this  insubordinate 
letter;  he  sent  for  Chastellux,  showed  it  to  him, 
and  then  threw  it  into  the  fire !  This  reveals  at 
a  glance  the  natures  of  the  two  men,  and  it  also 
explains  why  Rochambeau's  homely  comments 
contain  so  much  of  value  concerning  the  Ameri 
can  life  he  saw  going  on  about  him. 

Near  Rochambeau  stands  Baron  de  Kalb,  who 
was  sent  to  America  as  an  investigator  by  the 
French  Government  before  ever  the  war  began, 
and  who  had  so  glorious  an  end  at  the  battle  of 
Camden,  fighting  for  our  independence. 

Baron  Cromot  du  Bourg  and  Baron  Louis  de 
Closen,  both  aides-de-camp  of  the  commander, 
will  prove  most  engaging  comrades,  so  clear  was 
their  insight  into  the  young  American  manhood 
they  came  to  know  so  well.  De  Closen  com 
mented  both  with  pen  and  pencil,  and  the  pages 

[81 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

of  his  note-book  are  enlivened  with  sketches  of 
American  damsels  who  caught  his  fancy. 

More  serious  in  vein  will  be  Commissary  Claude 
Blanchard,  and  more  precise  in  his  observations. 
He  learned  what  he  could  of  Americans,  but  his 
chief  thought  was  always  for  the  welfare  of  the 
French  troops.  One  of  the  few  criticisms  he  re 
ceived  from  his  commander  was  on  account  of  the 
poor  quality  of  American  bread — surely  no  fault 
of  the  hard-working  quartermaster. 

More  serious  than  Blanchard  in  cloth,  but  far 
less  so  in  his  point  of  view,  was  the  worthy  chap 
lain.  Abbe  Robin,  whose  writings  contain  more 
than  a  few  hints  on  fashions  and  the  ways  of 
American  women. 

By  way  of  sharp  contrast  we  will  turn  next  to 
the  Due  de  Lauzun,  the  dashing  soldier  but  un 
principled  man.  We  shall  do  well  to  forget  the 
immorality  of  his  memoirs  (which,  Sainte-Beuve 
said,  alone  provided  sufficient  excuse  for  the  French 
Revolution !) ,  and  remember  only  that  the  por 
tion  reporting  his  stay  in  America  is  entirely  free 
from  that  reproach.  Remember,  too.  the  episode 
outside  New  York  when  he  rode  back  under  a 
heavy  fire  to  recover  his  hat  which  had  blown  off ! 

Lieutenant-General  Mathieu  Dumas  made  care 
ful  notes  of  his  experiences  while  serving  under 
the  French  colors  in  our  country,  but  left  them 
behind  him  in  a  box  at  Doctor  Bowen's  house  in 

[9] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Providence.  He  thought  they  were  lost,  but 
forty  years  later  Mrs.  Ward,  sole  survivor  of  the 
Bowen  family,  gave  them  to  General  Lafayette 
in  New  York  to  return  to  their  owner.  It  is  un 
fortunate  that  Dumas's  memoirs  deal  almost  ex 
clusively  with  military  events,  and  say  but  little 
of  the  people  whose  battles  he  was  fighting. 

Comte  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts  so  distin 
guished  himself  in  the  savage  charge  on  the  Eng 
lish  redoubts  at  Yorktown  that  he  was  decorated 
by  Louis  XVI,  and  immortalized  by  Trumbull  in 
his  picture  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  now 
hanging  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at  Wash 
ington.  It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  all  the 
French  officers  in  that  picture  were  painted  from 
life  by  Trumbull  in  1787,  at  Thomas  Jefferson's 
house  in  Paris  while  the  latter  was  American 
Minister  to  France. 

That  the  Comte  Joachim  de  Revel  should  have 
occasionally  been  severe  in  his  strictures  upon 
American  ways  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  he 
was  landed  from  the  French  fleet  at  Yorktown,  and 
for  twenty-four  days  and  nights  fought  in  the 
trenches  without  sleeping  in  a  bed  or  getting  a 
chance  to  change  his  clothes.  Never  did  foreigner 
receive  so  poor  an  example  of  American  hospitality, 
and  we  cannot  begrudge  him  the  joy  which  he 
experienced  when  once  more  back  in  his  bunk 
aboard  ship. 

[10] 


Due  do  Lauzun. 

From  the  painting  of  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  by  John 
Triunliiill,  in  the  Yale  School  of  Fine  Arts. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Prominent  in  this  group  of  warriors  is  Admiral 
Comte  de  Grasse,  whose  fleet  played  so  important 
a  part  in  the  Yorktown  victory  by  preventing  the 
English  navy  from  succoring  their  land  forces, 
but  here  again  we  shall  be  disappointed,  for  his 
memoirs  deal  with  naval  technicalities  alone,  and 
not  at  all  with  life  on  shore.  One  of  his  officers, 
however,  Chevalier  Aristide  Aubert  Dupetit- 
Thouars,  known  later  for  his  trip  round  the  world, 
gives  a  merry  account  of  his  adventures  on  the 
shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  he  took  most 
kindly  to  the  toasting  habit  then  so  prevalent 
among  us.  A  very  human  sailorman  was  Dupetit- 
Thouars,  and  quite  outspoken  and  unphilosophical 
when  he  took  pen  in  hand. 

Count  Axel  Fersen,  popularly  remembered 
as  the  devoted  friend  who  drove  the  coach  in 
which  Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette  tried  to 
make  their  escape  from  Paris,  has  much  to  say 
in  his  vivacious  memoirs  of  the  days  he  spent  in 
America  while  fighting  in  Rochambeau's  army. 

Nearest  to  us  of  all  this  group  of  fighting  French 
men  is  a  young  officer  with  a  curiously  shaped 
head — pointed  face  and  low  brow — a  youth  who 
risked  his  king's  displeasure  to  cross  the  ocean  and 
help  us.  He  was  a  human  battery  of  enthusiasm 
for  liberty  and  Americans,  so  much  a  part  of  us 
that  he  led  our  troops  in  the  assault  on  the  York- 
town  redoubts,  and  named  his  son  "  George  Wash- 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ington" — so  close  to  our  hearts  ever  since  that 
every  schoolboy  in  our  land  can  tell  his  heroic 
story — our  beloved  Lafayette — so  energetically 
and  enthusiastically  brave  in  our  cause,  and  yet 
of  so  thoughtful  a  modesty  as  to  insist  that  Amer 
ican  volunteer  officers  should  outrank  officers  of 
equal  grade  in  our  ally's  army !  From  him  we 
shall  quote  freely,  for  no  more  sympathetic  pic 
ture  exists  than  his  of  the  people  he  knew  and 
loved  so  well. 

Associated  with  Lafayette  there  will  be  found 
the  Comte  de  Segur,  son  of  the  French  Minister 
of  War,  and  himself  later  Ambassador  to  St. 
Petersburg,  and  also  the  gallant  Yicomte  de 
Noailles,  who  marched  all  the  way  on  foot  from 
Newport  to  the  Hudson  to  set  his  men  an  example 
of  endurance.  These  three  young  men  had  been 
intimates  at  the  French  court,  and  both  Lafayette 
and  de  Segur  married  sisters  of  de  Noailles. 

Another  intimate  friend  of  these  three  was  the 
Prince  de  Broglie,  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  his 
and  de  Segur's  disappointment  at  being  unable  to 
share  Lafayette's  exciting  experience  in  America, 
their  arrival  here  being  delayed  until  September, 
1782,  when  the  active  fighting  and  its  attendant 
glory  were  past,  although  the  French  army  had 
not  yet  embarked  upon  its  return  voyage.  Both 
of  them  travelled  extensively,  and  they  record 
their  experiences  delightfully,  especially  the  frankly 

[12] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

irresponsible  de  Broglie,  who  upon  his  arrival  in 
America  "only  knew  a  few  words  of  English,  but 
knew  better  how  to  drink  excellent  tea  with  even 
better  cream,  how  to  tell  a  lady  she  was  pretty, 
and  a  gentleman  he  was  sensible,  by  reason  whereof 
I  possessed  all  the  elements  of  social  success." 
It  is,  perhaps,  because  of  de  Broglie's  own  dis 
appointment  in  missing  the  fighting  that  he  re 
ports  so  picturesquely  the  tale  of  young  Bozon 
de  Perigord,  who,  ordered  to  return  to  France, 
disguised  himself  as  a  private  and  tried  to  smuggle 
himself  on  board  a  ship  carrying  French  troops 
bound  for  active  service  in  the  West  Indies. 

Next  we  come  to  four  cousins  of  de  Broglie's, 
the  de  Lameth  brothers.  This  gallant  quartet, 
each  of  them  a  colonel,  is  represented  in  the  lit 
erature  of  the  time  by  the  memoirs  of  Theodore, 
who,  though  not  in  the  United  States  and  there 
fore  unable  to  throw  light  upon  our  life  and  cus 
toms,  does  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  fight  at 
Yorktown,  in  which  his  brother  Charles  was  twice 
badly  wounded  at  the  head  of  his  hundred  grena 
diers  that  breached  the  palisades  protecting  the 
English  redoubts  so  as  to  permit  of  the  French 
assault.  Alexandre  de  Lameth,  another  of  these 
four  brothers,  shared  Lafayette's  long  captivity 
in  Austria. 

Another  of  the  military  observers  was  the 
Comte  de  Pontgibaud  ("a  French  volunteer  of 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  War  of  Independence,"  he  calls  himself), 
whose  story  was  of  such  interest  as  to  be  published 
in  English  as  well  as  in  French.  In  closing  the 
list  of  soldiers  sent  to  our  aid  by  France,  let  us 
remember  that  the  German-born  Steuben  was 
selected,  paid,  and  sent  here  by  the  French  agent 
Beaumarchais,  and  that  thereafter  he  signed  him 
self  de  Steuben  and  not  von  Steuben,  as  inscribed 
below  his  statue  in  Washington. 

Next  beyond  the  military  group  we  shall  ob 
serve  sundry  gentlemen  whom,  to  give  them  plea 
sure,  we  will  call  the  philosophers,  and  although 
less  numerous  than  the  band  of  officers,  they  are 
double  that  of  the  naturalists,  the  historians,  the 
travellers,  or  the  exiled  emigres.  There  are  no 
less  than  half  a  dozen  of  them,  headed  by  Jacques 
Pierre  Brissot  de  Warville,  the  scholar,  politician, 
and  propagandist,  who,  though  he  became  the 
leader  of  the  Girondins,  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
moderation  at  the  guillotine.  Philosopher  though 
he  was,  he  was  as  immoderate  in  his  abuse  of 
Chastellux  as  in  his  devotion  to  Crevecceur, 
Quakers,  and  the  cause  of  the  negroes,  nor  did 
his  altruistic  philosophy  prevent  his  signing  an 
agreement  with  French  bankers  before  he  sailed 
for  America  to  send  them,  and  them  only,  certain 
information  concerning  the  public  debt  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  individual  States,  so 
that  they  could  carry  on  "the  speculations  which 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

they  proposed  to  make  in  American  securities," 
and  for  this  they  paid  him  ten  thousand  livres. 
Few  Frenchmen  ever  visited  America  better 
equipped  with  letters  of  introduction  than  he; 
of  one  from  Lafayette  to  Washington  we  shall 
learn  later.  Notwithstanding  these  letters,  the 
French  Minister,  de  Moustier,  considered  him  a 
mischievous  person,  and  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  him,  which  stand  was  perforce  followed 
by  Brissot's  old  friend,  Crevecceur,  then  serving 
as  French  Consul  in  New  York.  This  same  de 
Moustier,  later  on  Ambassador  to  Berlin,  and  in 
1791  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  left  in  the  ar 
chives  of  the  Foreign  Office  many  interesting  docu 
ments  touching  American  commerce.  All  the 
foregoing,  however,  in  no  wise  affected  the  value 
or  interest  of  Brissot's  writings,  for  he  was  a  good 
friend  of  our  country. 

Etienne  Claviere  will  chiefly  be  remembered  by 
us  as  the  man  who  induced  Brissot  to  visit  America, 
and  who  collaborated  with  him  in  one  of  his  books. 

Another  of  the  same  group  was  the  Gallicized 
Italian,  Mazzei,  less  memorable  for  his  persistent 
efforts  to  introduce  the  culture  of  the  vine  in 
America  than  for  having  been  the  man  who  by 
his  indiscreet  publication  of  a  confidential  com 
munication  embroiled  Thomas  Jefferson  with 
Washington.  Mazzei  lived  for  several  years  near 
Monticello,  Jefferson's  home  in  Virginia,  and 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ended  his  varied  career  by  becoming  privy  coun 
cillor  to  the  king  of  Poland,  after  which  he  retired 
on  a  Russian  pension  and  died  in  Italy  at  the 
ripe  age  of  eighty -five.  Another  friend  of  Jeffer 
son's  was  Pierre-Samuel  Dupont  de  Nemours,  who 
at  his  request  wrote  in  1800  an  elaborate  treatise 
on  national  education  in  the  United  States,  what 
it  was  and  what  it  ought  to  be. 

Two  more  of  this  group,  J.  E.  Bonnet  and  M. 
Jh.  Mandrillon,  were  rather  more  statistical  than 
philosophical,  and  are  chiefly  useful  as  providing 
certain  dry  bones  for  our  structure,  leaving  us  to 
seek  the  flesh  and  red  blood  in  the  writings  of 
their  contemporaries. 

Although  the  Marquis  de  Marnezia  and  Roux 
both  philosophized  concerning  French  emigration 
to  our  western  country,  they  disagreed  radically  as 
to  its  expediency,  the  former  being  as  optimistic  as 
the  latter  was  pessimistic. 

Moreau  de  St.  Mery,  whose  diary  reposed  so 
long  in  the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Colonies 
in  Paris  before  being  published  by  the  Yale  Uni 
versity  Press,  was  such  a  practical  philosopher  as 
to  foresee  the  certain  future  of  the  impoverished 
emigre  Talleyrand,  and  befriend  him  during  his 
stay  in  America — to  his  own  advantage  when  the 
great  man  had  come  into  power.  Not  only  is 
St.  Mery  of  great  service  in  our  researches,  but 
also  to  any  student  of  Talleyrand,  for  all  of  the 

[16] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

many  letters  that  St.  Mery  received  from  him 
are  carefully  copied  into  the  latter's  diary.  It 
was  this  same  painstaking  diarist  who  had  already 
codified  the  laws  affecting  the  French  colonies  for 
Louis  XVI,  and  yet  it  was  under  his  presidency 
that  in  1789  the  electors  of  Paris,  against  that 
king's  wishes,  voted  to  establish  a  national  militia. 

For  safety's  sake — to  prevent  quarrelling — there 
stands  well  apart  from  this  group  of  philosophical 
folk  a  pair  of  critics,  for  so  we  can  best  describe 
Ferdinand  M.  Bayard  and  Chevalier  Felix  de 
Beaujour.  Bayard  was  the  more  active  of  the 
two,  and  therefore  the  more  interesting,  while 
Beaujour  (later  on  Consul  of  France)  was  rather 
pompous  in  his  attitude  toward  men  and  things, 
a  trait  evidenced  by  the  hundred-thousand-franc 
monument  he  erected  for  himself  before  his  death 
in  the  cemetery  of  Pere  La  Chaise,  Paris. 

Contrasting  strongly  with  the  pair  just  de 
scribed  are  several  naturalists:  General  Victor 
Collot,  the  Michaux,  Andre  and  Frangois  Andre, 
father  and  son,  botanists,  C.  F.  Volney  (afterward 
a  Senator)  the  geologist,  and  the  famous  J.  Hector 
St.  John  de  Crevecoeur,  author  of  the  "American 
Farmer,"  which  he  sold  for  "30  guineas  with 
promise  of  a  present  if  the  public  likes  the  book," 
and  which  was  destined  to  have  an  instant  and 
wide  success  in  English,  French,  German,  and 
Dutch.  Two  of  these  men,  Michaux  and  Collot, 

[17] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

during  their  travels  here,  conducted  confidential 
diplomatic  investigations  for  two  French  ministers 
—the  former  for  Genet,  and  the  latter  for  Adet. 
Crevecceur,  chiefly  because  of  assistance  lent  to 
the  botanical  garden  of  New  Haven  (like  Michaux's 
services  to  Charleston)  was  elected  an  honorary 
citizen  of  that  town.  Furthermore,  he  deserves 
well  of  all  Europeans  by  reason  of  his  seventy-two- 
page  pamphlet  urging  their  use  of  potatoes ;  in  this 
work  there  might  usefully  have  collaborated  Gen 
eral  Marion,  who  proved  to  the  British  troops  how 
well  Americans  could  fight  on  a  diet  of  sweet  po 
tatoes  !  Another  foreigner  even  more  interested  in 
gastronomies,  and  one  who  left  many  amusing 
anecdotes  of  his  three  years  here,  is  Brillat  Sa- 
varin. 

Another  small  group  will  be  chiefly  known  to 
us  as  travellers — Etienne  Marchand,  who  early 
wrote  of  what  is  now  Alaska,  Baudry  des  Lozieres, 
Milfort,  Bossu,  Berquin-Duvallon,  and  Perrin  du 
Lac,  who  described  Louisiana,  soon  to  join  our 
Union  of  States,  and  Captain  M.  Bourgeois  (also 
for  some  time  an  inhabitant  of  New  Orleans),  who 
might  be  termed  a  Pan-American  writer,  so  com 
pletely  does  his  list  of  cities  visited  cover  our 
western  hemisphere. 

Perhaps  the  most  picturesque  group  of  all  is 
that  of  the  agents  and  diplomatic  representatives 
sent  us  from  the  French  Foreign  Office,  and  it 

[18] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

certainly  includes  surprisingly  differentiated  per 
sonalities.  Among  them  are  the  Chevalier  de  la 
Luzerne,  admiring  us  and  by  us  admired,  and 
the  indiscreet  Citizen  Genet,  so  unwise  in  his 
activities  as  to  necessitate  his  recall.  There  is 
the  modest  Bonvouloir  (whose  political  reports, 
written  in  a  preparation  of  milk,  were  invisible 
until  heated  by  a  red-hot  shovel),  and  his  opposite, 
Pierre  Augustine  Caron  de  Beaumarchais,  better 
known  from  his  authorship  of  "The  Barber  of 
Seville"  and  "Marriage  of  Figaro"  than  for  his 
series  of  remarkable  letters  to  Vergennes,  setting 
out  the  political  advantage  to  be  gained  for 
France  by  aiding  the  American  colonies  against 
England — arguments  which,  thanks  to  their  skil 
ful  ,use  by  Vergennes  (then  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs),  caused  Louis  XVI  to  decide  in  favor  of 
that  momentous  step.  Of  this  same  Vergennes 
Jefferson  wrote:  "He  has  very  imperfect  ideas  of 
our  institutions,  and  no  confidence  in  them";  but 
it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  it  was  neverthe 
less  he  that  won  over  his  royal  master  to  our 
cause.  The  responsibility  for  that  decision  was 
Vergennes's,  and  he  risked  his  entire  future  on  its 
success.  He  knew  men,  and  the  Ministers  he  sent 
us  from  the  French  court  were  far  more  in  touch 
with  our  republican  institutions  than  those  se 
lected  by  the  First  French  Republic. 

The  French  Minister  first  accredited  to  us  was 

[19] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Conrad  Alexandre  Gerard  de  Rayneval,  one  of  two 
brothers  in  the  Foreign  Office.  Vergennes  always 
referred  to  him  as  "  Gerard,"  reserving  the  full  fam 
ily  name  for  the  other  brother.  It  is  felicitously  ap 
propriate  that  much  should  have  been  written  of 
this  period  by  a  modern  French  diplomat  and  dis 
tinguished  man  of  letters,  Ambassador  Jusserand, 
than  whom  no  more  successful  foreign  represen 
tative  has  ever  visited  Washington.  Following 
Gerard,  the  complete  list  of  ministers  between  1775 
and  1800,  with  the  dates  of  presenting  their  let 
ters  of  credence  to  our  government,  is  Chevalier  de 
la  Luzerne  (November  17,  1779),  Count  de  Mous- 
tier  (February  26,  1788),  Colonel  Jean  de  Ter- 
nant  (August  12,  1791),  Edmond  G.  Genet  (May 
17,  1793;  diplomatic  relations  with  him  were 
suspended  by  our  government,  August  15,  1793), 
Joseph  Fauchet  (February  24,  1794),  and  Pierre 
Auguste  Adet  (June,  1795).  Of  these,  Colonel 
de  Ternant  might  have  joined  our  soldier  group, 
for  he  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Inspector  with 
our  forces  in  the  south,  and  was  captured  at  the 
surrender  of  Charleston.  He  spoke  English  flu 
ently,  and  was  "a  man  of  wits  and  talent,"  ac 
cording  to  Chastellux. 

The  last  group  of  all  is  in  many  ways  the  most 
interesting,  and  comprises  the  names  of  four  tem 
porary  exiles  from  France  who  found  intolerable 
the  political  troubles  accompanying  the  French 

[20] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Revolution.  Ill  assorted  they  will  certainly  seem, 
for  they  are  the  Vicomte  de  Chateaubriand,  Tal 
leyrand  (later  Prince  of  that  name),  the  Due  de 
La  Rochefoucauld,  and  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour 
du  Pin.  Of  these  the  two  former  will  prove  less 
useful  to  our  purpose  than  the  others,  and  for 
widely  differing  reasons — Chateaubriand  as  being 
too  poetic,  and  Talleyrand  for  excessive  brevity. 
Chateaubriand's  love  of  the  picturesque  caused 
him  to  be  fascinated  by  the  habits  of  our  Indian 
tribes,  and  he  devoted  so  much  enthusiasm  to  his 
discussion  thereof  as  to  leave  but  little  for  our 
forefathers  and  their  ways.  Nor  were  his  obser 
vations  of  Indian  customs  nearly  so  convincing  as 
Perrin  du  Lac's,  or  as  Captain  Bossu's  accounts 
of  his  beloved  Allabomons  (Alabamans)  and 
Akangas  (Arkansas) .  Milf ort,  by  reason  of  twenty 
years  spent  among  our  Indian  tribes,  was  the  best 
qualified  to  chronicle  their  ways.  The  Creeks 
made  him  their  War  Chief,  which  possibly  explains 
the  dedication  of  his  book  to  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
Of  Talleyrand's  private  life  while  in  America 
the  less  said  the  better.  The  fact  that  he  had 
been  Bishop  of  Autun  seems  to  have  escaped  his 
memory  during  his  stay  in  Philadelphia,  where 
Washington  declined  to  receive  him — some  say 
for  political  reasons  (to  please  the  French  Minister, 
who  protested  strongly  against  his  reception), 
and  some  say  for  social  reasons.  Perhaps  it  was 

[21] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

a  combination  of  both.  In  any  event,  it  did  not 
interfere  with  the  high  opinion  of  our  future  which 
he  attained  after  extensive  travel  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  an  opinion  which  found  practical 
expression  in  his  entering  upon  a  land  specula 
tion  with  property  in  Maine,  which  he  purchased 
from  General  Knox,  as  well  as  with  another  large 
tract  in  Virginia.  It  was  while  visiting  the  Mar 
quis  and  Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin  on  their 
humble  farm  near  Albany  that  he  learned  of  the 
events  of  the  ninth  of  Thermidor,  including  the 
death  of  Robespierre,  which  opened  the  way  for 
his  return  to  France  and  subsequent  great  career. 
The  diary  of  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin, 
especially  that  part  which  treats  of  her  stay  in 
America,  is  altogether  charming,  and  gives  a  de 
lightful  picture  of  these  distinguished  scions  of  no 
bility  rising  at  four  o'clock  every  morning  to 
make  butter  for  their  living,  but  on  Sunday 
dressing  up  in  their  best  and  repairing  to  the  more 
congenial  atmosphere  of  the  Schuyler  and  Van 
Rensselaer  homes  in  Albany.  It  is  evident  on 
every  page  how  warmly  she  reciprocated  the  sym 
pathy  everywhere  extended  to  them  in  this  land 
of  refuge,  beginning  with  the  moment  when  the 
good  folk  of  Boston  took  her  cropped  hair  to 
mean  preparation  for  the  guillotine,  before  escap 
ing  from  Paris.  Alas!  for  her,  that  she  had  to 
learn  of  American  journalistic  enterprise  by  read- 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ing  in  one  of  our  gazette's  that  her  father,  Colonel 
Dillon,  had  perished  on  the  scaffold ! 

Another  visitor  to  her  humble  farm  was  the 
Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld,  like  herself  an  exile. 
In  the  eight  volumes  which  he  wrote  upon  his 
travels  and  studies  in  America  during  the  years 
1795,  6,  and  7,  we  shall  find  a  wealth  of  material 
upon  which  to  draw. 

In  addition  to  this  long  list  of  early  visitors, 
there  also  exist  other  later  Frenchmen  equally 
efficient  in  their  friendliness — men  like  Ambas 
sador  Jusserand,  Yicomte  de  Noailles,  Leon  Chot- 
teau,  and  Henri  Doniol,  modern  chroniclers  of 
the  French  soldiers  and  sailors  who  fought  in 
America,  and  three  eighteenth-century  men,  Hil- 
liard  d'Auberteuil,  Abbe  Raynal,  and  Frangois 
Soules,  students  and  writers  of  our  history  in 
those  early  days,  even  though  they  never  saw  our 
land.  Amazing,  is  it  not,  that  so  many  French 
men  should  have  devoted  their  pens  to  the  cause 
of  our  independence  and  the  praise  of  American 
manhood  in  those  formative  days  of  our  nation- 
building  ? 

An  illuminating  conclusion  deducible  from  their 
collective  writings  is  that,  because  our  ancestors 
had  long  enjoyed  great  political  freedom  and  were 
fighting  to  prevent  its  withdrawal,  our  revolu 
tion  was  rather  a  war  to  retain  rights  than  one  to 
secure  a  hitherto  unenjoyed  liberty,  as  was  the 

[23] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

French  Revolution.  This  fact  helps  to  explain 
why  our  revolution  was  followed  by  a  stable  re 
publican  government,  which  was  not  the  result 
in  France.  This  also  explains  why  the  customs 
and  manners  of  our  people  changed  hardly  at  all 
during  the  period  of  twenty-five  years  that  sepa 
rated  the  battle  of  Lexington  from  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  period  during  which 
our  French  friends  had  us  under  the  closest  ob 
servation.  Consider  how  greatly  everything  in 
France  altered  during  the  quarter  century  follow 
ing  their  revolution,  1789  to  1815,  and  it  will  help 
you  to  realize  how  stable  by  contrast  was  our 
manner  of  living  during  the  same  period  following 
our  uprising.  Nor  is  this  the  only  great  problem 
of  national  life  upon  which  light  is  gained  by  a 
study  of  the  French  observers  of  America  during 
this  critical  period. 

Great  interest  was  felt  among  the  French  in  the 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  that  famous  military 
order  instituted  May  10,  1783,  by  American  and 
French  officers  with  George  Washington  as  Presi 
dent  General.  Louis  XVI  gave  it  his  official  sanc 
tion  at  Versailles  December  18,  1783,  and  became 
its  Patron.  So  great  was  the  influence  of  this  so 
ciety  in  its  early  days  that  many  feared,  because 
its  membership  was  hereditary,  that  its  aristocratic 
tendencies  would  endanger  our  republican  form  of 
government.  As  one  proof  of  how  real  that  danger 

[24] 


Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld. 

From  a  drawing  by  J.  Guerin. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

then  seemed  it  is  amusing  nowadays  to  recall  that 
Tammany  Hall  was  founded  May  12,  1789,  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  acting  as  a  counterweight  to  the 
aristocratic  Cincinnati !  Of  the  French  mentioned 
in  this  chapter  there  belonged  to  the  Cincinnati: 
Lafayette,  Rochambeau,  de  Grasse,  Chastellux, 
Dumas,  de  Noailles,  Collot,  Deux  Fonts,  Lauzun, 
Charles,  Alexandre  and  Theodore  de  Lameth,  Bou 
gainville,  Segur,  Broglie,  Custine,  Fersen,  Blan- 
chard,  du  Bourg,  Bozon  de  Perigord,  Closen,  Pont- 
gibaud,  Ternant,  Gerard,  and  Luzerne. 

Some  of  the  memoirs  were  written  under  a  pseu 
donym,  and  published  outside  France  in  order  to 
avoid  the  official  censor.  So  repressive  an  influ 
ence  did  this  censorship  exert  that  many  com 
plaints  were  made  that  it  robbed  French  presses 
of  much  business  otherwise  obtainable  from  Amer 
ican  writers  unwilling  to  be  exposed  to  annoying 
excisions,  to  say  nothing  of  the  long  delays  neces 
sitated  by  this  official  supervision.  Crevecceur 
printed  his  first  book,  "Letters  from  an  American 
Farmer,"  in  England  and  in  English,  but  when 
he  came  to  bring  out  his  "Voyage  dans  la  Haute 
Pennsylvanie,  etc.,"  he  did  it  in  Paris  and  in 
French,  protecting  himself,  however,  by  announc 
ing  that  it  had  been  written  in  English,  and  that 
he  had  only  translated  it.  Mandrillon  published 
both  his  "Voyageur  Americain,"  and  his  "Spec- 
tateur  Americain,"  in  Amsterdam,  alleging  that 

[25] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  first  was  written  by  an  unknown  Englishman 
by  order  of  Lord  Chatham,  the  prime  minister, 
and  translated  into  French  by  "M.  Jh.  M." 
When,  two  years  later,  he  printed  the  second  book, 
he  had  grown  bold  enough  to  lay  aside  the  trans 
lation  subterfuge,  although  still  unwilling  to  put 
more  than  "M.  Jh.  M."  on  the  title-page,  and 
further  concealing  his  identity  by  adding  "Ne- 
gociant  a  Amsterdam."  Bonnet  published  his 
"Reponse  aux  Principales  Questions,  etc.,"  at 
Lausanne,  giving  as  the  author  "un  citoyen  des 
Etats-Unis,"  while  Mazzei  printed  his  "Re- 
cherches"  at  Colle,  and  signed  it  "un  citoyen  de 
Virginie."  In  the  latter  book  there  appear  four 
letters  on  the  unity  of  legislation  written  by  the 
Marquis  de  Condorcet,  but  here  again  we  have 
the  author's  identity  concealed  from  the  censor 
by  the  pseudonym  "Bourgeois  de  New  Heaven," 
an  unintentionally  flattering  spelling  of  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  which  had  conferred  the 
honor  of  citizenship  upon  the  author.  Bourgeois 
printed  his  book  in  London,  and  d'Auberteuil  his 
in  Brussels — both  of  them  being  in  French. 
That  it  was  considered  worth  while  to  take  all 
this  trouble  to  put  books  on  America  into  the 
hands  of  French  readers  shows  conclusively  how 
keen  must  have  been  the  public  interest  in  that 
subject. 

In  order  to  reproduce  all  the  details  possible 

[26] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

of  the  panoramic  picture  painted  by  our  French 
friends,  the  author  has  examined  not  only  all 
their  available  memoirs  unpublished  or  pub 
lished,  but  has  also  searched  through  the  amaz 
ingly  complete  archives  of  the  French  Govern 
ment  (deposited  in  the  Archives  Nationales,  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and  several  of  the  Min 
istries),  opened  to  him  with  that  courtesy  for 
which  the  French  are  so  justly  renowned. 

A  collector  of  these  early  memoirs  will  occa 
sionally  encounter  an  anomalous  value  set  upon 
certain  books,  and  an  attempt  to  puzzle  out  the 
causes  for  these  seeming  discrepancies  in  cost  will 
lead  him  along  pleasing  paths.  He  will  find  that 
General  Mathieu's  work  is  still  in  demand  as  a 
text-book  for  students  of  military  service,  and  is 
therefore  never  to  be  cheaply  had.  Querard  ex 
plains  the  rarity  of  Marquis  de  Lazay  Marnezia's 
pamphlet,  "Lettres  ecrites  des  rives  de  1'Ohio," 
by  saying  it  was  seized  by  the  police.  The  first 
edition  of  the  memoirs  of  the  Due  de  Lauzun  was 
one  of  the  very  few  books  published  by  Honore 
de  Balzac  during  his  short  (and  unsuccessful!) 
career  as  a  publisher,  and  it  is  therefore  snapped 
up  by  collectors  of  unusual  books.  There  were 
but  twenty-three  copies  printed  of  the  first  edi 
tion  of  Chastellux's  travels,  and  that,  too,  by  the 
printing-press  on  board  the  French  fleet  at  Provi 
dence,  which  easily  accounts  for  the  price  set 

[27] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

upon  a  copy.  The  first  edition  of  the  so-called 
memoirs  of  Admiral  de  Grasse  proves  upon  investi 
gation  to  consist  of  only  about  a  dozen  prints  of 
his  story  of  the  engagements  leading  up  to  his 
defeat  in  the  West  Indies  by  Admiral  Rodney 
and  the  English  fleet,  these  few  copies  being  in 
tended  for  use  at  the  court-martial  before  which 
he  was  tried.  General  Collot's  memoirs  (post 
humously  published,  by  the  way)  are  rare  because 
the  bookseller  who  bought  the  entire  edition, 
both  French  and  English,  deliberately  destroyed 
all  but  three  hundred  of  the  French  and  one  hun 
dred  of  the  English  copies,  hoping  thus  to  in 
crease  their  sale  value.  The  collector  will  find 
that  interesting  facts  like  these  will  be  constantly 
appearing  to  increase  the  delights  of  his  fascinating 
occupation. 

If  the  said  collector  turns  his  attention  to  the 
prints  and  other  illustrations  of  the  period,  he 
will  soon  learn  that,  although  there  was  a  wealth 
of  them  in  England  just  then,  especially  of  politi 
cal  caricatures,  the  opposite  was  true  across  the 
Channel,  for  the  French  had  but  few  illustrations 
of  interest  dealing  with  the  momentous  facts  then 
taking  place.  Fewer  still  are  there  prints  to  be 
had  of  American  events,  and  most  of  these  are 
allegorically  represented,  and  therefore  lack  those 
details  illustrating  customs  and  home  life  which 
we  would  have  wished. 

[28] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

At  the  back  of  this  book  will  be  found  a  list  of 
the  authorities  consulted.  It  is  with  real  plea 
sure  that  the  author  acknowledges  his  special  in 
debtedness  to  the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the 
Library  of  the  French  Foreign  Office,  of  the  Ar 
chives  Nationales,  and  of  the  great  collection  at 
the  Bibliotheque  Nationale;  to  Senator  Pierre 
Baudin,  who,  while  Minister  of  Marine,  gave  per 
mission  to  study  the  records  of  his  ministry;  to 
Ambassador  Robert  Bacon;  to  several  friends  in 
the  Library  of  Congress;  to  Governor  Simeon  E. 
Baldwin  of  Connecticut;  to  Rev.  Anson  Phelps 
Stokes  of  Yale  University;  to  Mr.  Henry  Vignaud, 
the  learned  collector  of  Americana;  to  Mr.  Charles 
A.  Munn;  to  Mr.  James  Hazen  Hyde;  to  General 
Asa  Bird  Gardiner;  to  Mr.  William  C.  Lane,  Li 
brarian  of  Harvard  University;  and  lastly,  to  a 
number  of  antiquarian  booksellers  of  Paris,  who, 
understanding  the  purpose  of  this  volume,  helped 
in  ways  for  which  no  financial  recompense  was  pos 
sible. 

The  collecting  of  the  available  information  and 
its  reduction  by  selection  have  been  so  interesting 
that  the  hours  devoted  thereto  seem  in  the  retro 
spect  but  minutes.  As  the  work  progressed,  the 
author's  amazement  constantly  grew  that  the 
people  of  a  foreign  race  should  not  only  have  plen 
tifully  spilled  their  blood  for  us,  but  also  should 
have  so  voluminously  recorded  the  salient  social 

[29] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

characteristics  of  the  new  nation  they  had  helped 
to  its  feet.  It  is  the  writer's  earnest  wish  that 
these  pages  may  assist  in  reviving  the  memory 
of  France's  splendid  service  to  the  fellow  citizens 
of  Washington. 


So 


CHAPTER  II 

DANCING,  VISITS,  MUSIC,  CARDS, 
CONVERSATION,  ETIQUETTE 

"COME,  miss,  have  a  care  what  you  are  doing," 
shouted  the  Master  of  Ceremonies  to  a  damsel 
who  was  permitting  a  bit  of  gossip  to  interrupt 
her  turn  in  a  contra-dance.  "Do  you  think  you 
are  here  for  your  own  pleasure?"  That  such 
discipline  should  have  characterized  a  Phila 
delphia  assembly  in  1781  was  almost  as  surpris 
ing  to  the  French  officer  who  saw  it  as  it  is  be 
wildering  to  us  in  these  free-and-easy  days  of 
tango  teas  and  complete  surrender  to  that  invad 
ing  thief  of  society's  waking  hours  I  How  cut- 
and-dried  were  the  Philadelphia  dancing-parties 
of  those  times  was  recorded  in  great  detail  by 
the  brilliant  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  the  French 
officer  whom  American  society  did  its  best  to 
spoil,  and  who  repaid  its  attentions  by  his  amia 
ble  account  of  American  life.  But  listen  to  fur 
ther  details  of  this  same  assembly:  "A  Man 
ager,  or  Master  of  Ceremonies  presides  at  these 
amusements.  He  gives  to  each  dancer  a  folded 
ticket  which  is  numbered,  and  thus  it  is  chance 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

which  decides  the  partner  that  you  are  to  have 
and  must  keep  the  whole  evening.  All  the  dances 
are  arranged  in  advance,  and  are  called  out  in 
order.  These  dances,  like  the  toasts  which  they 
drink  at  table,  have  a  certain  political  flavor. 
One  is  called  'The  Success  of  the  Campaign,' 
another  'The  Defeat  of  Burgoyne,'  a  third  'The 
Retreat  of  Clinton.'  The  managers  are  gener 
ally  chosen  from  the  most  distinguished  officers 
of  the  Army.  At  present  this  important  post  is 
confided  to  Col.  Wilkinson,  who  is  the  army 
clothier,  that  is  to  say,  charged  with  uniforming 
the  troops.  Col.  Mitchell,  a  short,  stout  man  of 
fifty  years,  a  great  horse  lover,  and  recently  in 
charge  of  the  army  transport  both  for  the  Ameri 
can  as  well  as  the  French  armies,  used  to  be 
Master  of  Ceremonies,  but  when  I  saw  him  he 
had  just  quitted  that  distinguished  position,  and 
danced  as  a  simple  citizen.  They  say  that  he 
used  to  exercise  his  authority  with  much  severity." 
That  the  securing  of  partners  was  admittedly 
troublesome  appears  from  the  legend,  "The 
ladies  will  be  so  obliging  as  to  provide  themselves 
with  partners  before  the  evening,"  printed  on 
the  eleven  hundred  invitations  issued  by  the 
French  Minister  for  the  ball  he  gave  Philadelphia 
society  when,  in  1782,  an  heir  was  born  to  Louis 
XVI.  One  happy  solution  of  the  partner  prob 
lem  was  noticed  by  Perrin  du  Lac:  "Ordinarily 

[32] 


=b 


^  ; 


PH 

il 


•  "    •£ 


ng 

ssio 


da 

he  p 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

a  young  lady  attends  a  ball  with  a  young  man 
with  whom  she  dances  constantly  throughout  the 
evening;  that  is  always  the  case  when  he  is  her 
sweetheart.  Sometimes  a  young  man  who  has 
come  alone  to  a  ball  is  unable  to  dance  at  all 
because  no  one  is  willing  to  accept  his  invitation." 
How  lacking  in  republican  simplicity  were  these 
balls  of  the  new  republic  appears  from  the  re 
port  of  one  in  Philadelphia,  written  by  Minister 
Adet  to  his  government,  February  23,  1796: 
"Yesterday  evening  they  gave  the  President  a 
ball,  the  subscription  for  which  was,  as  is  cus 
tomary,  opened  a  few  days  before.  All  that 
luxury,  flattery,  idolatry  could  imagine  was  there 
combined.  There  were  only  lacking  Body  Guards 
and  the  red  and  blue  ribbons  of  decorations  to 
enable  one  to  imagine  himself  at  the  Court  of  a 
King.  Courtiers  were  certainly  not  lacking." 

Another  admiring  visitor  to  testify  concerning 
the  dancing-parties  of  those  days  was  the  Comte 
de  Segur,  son  of  the  French  Minister  of  War, 
whose  conclusion  after  attending  numerous  balls 
in  Providence,  was:  "I  do  not  remember  to  have 
ever  seen  anywhere  more  gaiety  and  less  confu 
sion,  more  pretty  women,  well-dressed,  full  of 
grace,  and  with  less  coquetry."  This  same  de 
Segur  had  formed  one  of  an  almost  inseparable 
trio  at  the  French  court,  the  other  two  being 
the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  and  the  Yicomte  de 

[331 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Noailles,  and  it  was  a  great  blow  to  be  left  be 
hind  when  they,  first  one  and  then  the  other, 
went  off  to  the  American  war.  Of  de  Noailles 
one  has  to  learn  at  second  hand,  but  he  has  al 
ready  been  introduced  as  the  officer  who,  when  the 
French  moved  out  from  Newport  to  join  Wash 
ington  on  the  Hudson,  marched  on  foot  all  the 
way  in  order  to  set  his  men  an  example  of  en 
durance.  Made  of  splendid  stuff  were  the  French 
who  joined  in  our  struggle  for  independence,  and 
that  nearly  seventy  of  them  wrote  their  impres 
sions  of  American  society  and  its  customs  shows 
how  abundant  is  the  material  from  which  to  draw 
an  account  of  our  forefathers  whose  friendship 
they  earned  and  enjoyed.  One  after  another 
they  shall  step  forward  to  contribute  to  our  pic 
ture  of  the  American  life  they  knew,  and  while  they 
are  so  contributing,  we  shall  come  to  know  and 
love  them  as  did  our  ancestors  long  ago.  But  now 
back  to  our  warrior-beau  Chastellux  and  listen 
while  he  compares  a  Boston  ball  with  its  proto 
type,  the  Philadelphia  Assembly:  "We  set  out 
together  for  Dr.  Cooper's  house,  and  from  thence 
to  the  Association  Ball,  where  I  was  received  by 
my  old  acquaintance,  Mr.  Brick,  who  was  one  of 
the  Managers.  I  stayed  there  until  ten  o'clock. 
The  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  opened  the  ball  with 
Mrs.  Temple;  Monsieur  1'Eiguille  (the  elder)  and 
Monsieur  Truguet  each  danced  a  minuet,  and 

[34] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

did  honor  to  the  French  nation  by  the  distin 
guished  and  graceful  manner  of  their  dancing. 
I  regret  to  say  that  it  contrasted  somewhat  with 
that  of  the  Americans,  who  generally  are  awkward, 
particularly  in  the  minuet.  The  prettiest  dancers 
were  Miss  Jarvis,  her  sister,  Miss  Betsey  Brown, 
and  Mrs.  Whitemore.  I  found  the  women  very 
well  dressed,  but  with  less  elegance  and  care  than 
in  Philadelphia;  as  for  the  hall,  it  was  superb, 
of  a  charming  style  of  architecture,  well  furnished 
and  lighted.  For  general  effect,  good  order  and 
refreshments,  this  Assembly  was  much  superior 
to  that  at  the  City  Tavern  of  Philadelphia."  It 
may  console  our  Boston  friends  to  know  that 
more  than  one  of  the  French  commented  that 
the  Philadelphia  ladies  did  not  excel  in  dancing! 
Even  that  practical-minded  quartermaster,  Blan- 
chard,  noticed  in  Providence  that  "neither  the 
men  nor  the  women  dance  well;  they  use  their 
arms  very  awkwardly." 

Chastellux,  despite  his  interest  in  the  frivolous 
side  of  social  life,  was  too  astute  to  overlook  the 
serious  note  that  in  those  troubled  times  was  ever 
to  be  heard  by  those  who  cared  to  listen.  Tories 
everywhere  imperilled  the  success  of  the  Ameri 
can  cause,  and  in  recognition  of  this  fact  he  notes 
that  "the  Tories  have  been  publicly  excluded 
from  this  Assembly  (Philadelphia)"  and  com 
ments  that  "Miss  Footman  was  rather  contra- 

[35] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

band,  being  suspected  of  not  being  a  good  Whig." 
Sundry  confirmations  of  this  system  of  social  boy 
cott  are  to  be  found  in  the  official  despatches  of 
the  French  Ministers,  preserved  in  the  Ministry 
of  Foreign  Affairs  in  Paris,  to  which  the  author 
was  courteously  granted  access  by  the  French 
Government.  Minister  Gerard  on  August  24, 
1778,  reports  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  give  up 
the  idea  of  a  ball  on  his  King's  birthday,  because 
"they  wish  to  establish  an  absolute  line  of  sepa 
ration  between  the  Whigs  and  Tories,  especially 
between  the  ladies."  He  gives  as  his  reason  for 
reporting  this  plan  to  ostracize  the  Tories,  "I 
presume,  Sir,  that  you  will  not  be  indifferent  to 
knowing  the  moral  dispositions  of  this  country," 
with  which  sentiment  we  are  in  hearty  accord. 

This  same  diplomat  also  wrote  home  how  un 
willing  were  the  Americans  to  allow  even  Congress 
to  interfere  with  so  popular  a  pastime  as  dancing. 
He  tells  Vergennes,  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  that  Congress,  at  the  instigation  of  Pres 
byterian  delegates  from  the  north,  had  passed  a 
resolution  renewing  their  request  that  the  several 
States  forbid  dances  and  theatrical  representa 
tions:  "The  very  day  this  resolution  was  pub 
lished  there  were  held  theatricals,  acted  by  army 
officers  and  Whig  citizens.  The  next  day  the 
Governor  of  Philadelphia  gave  a  ball  to  a  numer 
ous  company!"  Even  thus  early  did  our  people 

[36] 


Elizabeth  Bowdoin  (Mrs.  Temple). 

From  the  original  crayon,  by  John  Singleton  Copley,  in 
possession  of  Winthrop  Tappan. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

set  their  faces  against  class  legislation  by  Con 
gress.  That  this  wide-spread  love  of  dancing  was 
not  incompatible  with  patriotism  is  proved  by 
the  alacrity  with  which  the  ladies  at  a  Baltimore 
ball  given  in  Lafayette's  honor  engaged  them 
selves  to  make  up  into  shirts  for  his  American 
troops  the  linen  which  he  had  secured  for  that 
purpose. 

Nor  was  the  worship  of  Terpsichore  confined  to 
the  upper  ranks  of  society,  for  "all  American 
women,  married  or  single,  love  dancing.  They 
dance  either  between  eight  and  eleven  in  the 
morning,  or  else  in  the  evening  from  sunset  until 
late  at  night.  There  you  see  grandfather,  son, 
and  grandson  at  the  same  party,  which  shows 
that  dancing  is  done  for  pleasure,  and  not  for 
display."  This  last  is  from  the  recently  pub 
lished  memoirs  of  St.  Mery,  long  hidden  away  in 
the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of  Colonies  in  Paris. 
It  may  be  hinted,  in  passing,  that  St.  Mery  is 
possibly  of  less  value  for  his  deductions  from  what 
he  saw  in  America  than  for  the  sidelight  he  throws 
on  Talleyrand,  whom  he  befriended  in  exile  and 
adversity  in  Philadelphia,  to  be  rewarded  later 
in  France  upon  Talleyrand's  rise  to  power.  St. 
Mery  was  for  some  time  employed  in  the  Phila 
delphia  office  of  Daniel  Merian,  the  business 
"name  and  style"  under  which  the  French  Gov 
ernment  long  conducted  a  large  and  profitable 

[37] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

trade  in  America.  It  is  from  St.  Mery  we  learn 
that  dancing  was  every  whit  as  popular  in  the 
country  as  in  the  cities,  and  he  gives  a  pleasant 
account  of  what  he  calls  a  "frolick  de  melons, 
to  which  all  the  neighbors  come  to  dance  and 
eat  watermelons,"  and  which  was  held  annually  in 
August  at  the  Red  Lion  Tavern,  a  little  way  out 
of  Philadelphia  on  the  New  York  road.  Such 
a  combination  of  physical  and  gastronomic  ac 
tivities  speaks  well  for  the  soundness  of  our  fore 
bears'  constitutions. 

Because  the  tango  and  kindred  new  dances 
now  engage  public  attention,  dancing  seems  en 
titled  to  come  first  in  this  retrospect  of  early 
American  society  as  seen  through  French  eyes. 
In  similar  wise,  by  way  of  recognizing  the  sway 
of  that  second  social  tyrant,  bridge,  cards  shall 
come  next  in  order.  Hear  what  the  French  had 
to  say  upon  a  subject  so  important  to  the  social 
life  of  France  at  that  time.  Says  Chastellux  of 
an  evening  spent  in  Boston:  "For  the  first  time 
since  I  have  been  in  America  they  made  me  play 
whisk  [sic].  The  cards  were  English,  that  is  to 
say,  much  prettier  and  dearer  than  ours,  and  we 
marked  our  points  with  louis  or  Portuguese  pieces. 
As  soon  as  the  party  was  over  the  losses  were  not 
difficult  to  adjust,  because  they  were  faithful  to 
the  rule  established  in  society  since  the  beginning 
of  the  troubles,  which  did  not  permit  playing  for 

[38] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

money  so  long  as  the  War  lasted.  This  law, 
however,  was  not  scrupulously  followed  in  the 
clubs,  nor  when  men  played  with  each  other. 
Bostonians  like  high  play,  and  perhaps  it  is  for 
tunate  that  the  War  came  at  this  time  to  moder 
ate  a  passion,  whose  consequences  had  begun  to 
be  dangerous."  Just  before  Lafayette  left  France 
for  the  first  time,  the  cause  of  the  struggling 
English  colonies  had  so  laid  hold  upon  the  pop 
ular  imagination  of  French  court  circles  (where 
all  Americans  were  indiscriminately  called  Bosto 
nians)  as  to  displace  whist  by  the  new  game  of 
"Boston."  Card-playing  as  a  pastime  was  then 
so  general  a  feature  of  European  life  that  it  is  no 
wonder  the  French  were  surprised  that  this  form 
of  gaming  was  not  more  in  vogue  across  the  water. 
After  this  glimpse  of  city  life,  let  us  change  the 
scene  to  a  rainy  day  at  General  Nelson's  coun 
try  house:  "It  is  not  useless  to  observe  that 
on  this  occasion  where  fifteen  or  twenty  people, 
of  whom  all  were  strangers  to  the  family  and  the 
land,  found  themselves  assembled  in  the  country, 
and  forced  by  bad  weather  to  remain  in  the  house, 
there  was  no  question  of  playing  cards.  How 
many  parties  of  tric-trac,  of  whisk,  of  lotto, 
would  there  have  been  among  us  as  a  necessary 
consequence  of  an  obstinate  rain." 

Chastellux  points  out  that  another  diversion  to 
which  Europeans  would  have  turned  under  like 

[39] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

stress  of  weather  was  music,  which  he  calls  "a 
resource  unknown  in  America,"  although  he  con 
tradicts  himself  further  on  by  saying:  "Miss 
Tolliver  sang  several  songs  with  English  words 
but  Italian  music."  He  further  refutes  himself 
in  this  regard  by  narrating  that  in  Philadelphia 
"during  the  afternoon  we  went  to  take  tea  with 
Madame  Shippen.  It  is  the  first  time  since  my 
arrival  in  America  that  I  have  seen  music  at  a 
social  function  taking  its  part  in  real  amuse 
ments.  Miss  Rutteledge  played  the  clavichord 
and  played  it  very  well.  Miss  Shippen  sang 
with  timidity  but  a  very  pretty  voice.  Mon 
sieur  Ottow,  secretary  to  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne 
(the  French  Minister)  had  a  harp  brought,  and 
accompanied  Miss  Shippen,  and  also  played  sev 
eral  pieces.  Music  naturally  brought  on  dancing. 
The  Vicomte  de  Noailles  strung  up  a  violin, 
which  he  tuned  to  the  harp,  and  started  the 
young  ladies  dancing,  while  mothers  and  other 
grave  personages  conversed  in  another  room." 
Another  of  his  pen  vignettes  shows  that  the  range 
of  songs  was  not  limited,  especially  if  the  re 
straint  due  to  female  society  were  removed:  "The 
Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Peter,  gave  the  signal  for 
joy  and  liberty  by  singing  a  song  of  his  own  com 
position,  so  gay  and  free  that  I  will  dispense  with 
giving  either  a  translation  or  an  extract — it  was 
really  very  pretty.  He  then  sang  another  one 

[4o] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

more  chaste  and  more  musical — a  very  pretty 
Italian  cantabile.  Mr.  Peter  is  certainly  the 
best  Cabinet  Officer  of  both  the  hemispheres  for 
voice  and  the  singing  of  either  grave  or  gay  music." 
Brillat  Savarin  took  part  in  a  pleasant  scene  at 
Bulow's  farm,  near  Hartford,  where  the  host,  "to 
relieve  conversation  called  out  from  time  to  time 
to  his  daughter:  *  Maria,  give  us  a  song!'  And 
she  would  sing  with  charming  modesty,  without 
waiting  to  be  urged,  the  national  song,  'Yankee 
dudde'  [sic],  *  Queen  Mary's  Lament,'  and 
'Major  Andre,'  all  very  popular  songs.  Maria 
had  taken  several  lessons  and  hereabouts  passed 
for  a  virtuose,  but  her  song  pleased  rather  be 
cause  of  the  quality  of  her  voice,  which  was  sweet, 
fresh,  and  clear." 

What  role  music  played  at  a  summer  resort  like 
Bath,  Virginia,  is  narrated  by  Bayard,  who  jour 
neyed  thither  on  horseback  in  1783.  Bayard  was 
one  of  the  few  Frenchmen  to  write  of  us  with  that 
caustic  criticism  which  the  French  can,  when  they 
choose,  use  so  tellingly  that  its  significant  absence 
from  most  of  these  memoirs  affords  a  striking  proof 
of  the  kindly  attitude  of  their  writers.  However, 
this  particular  quotation  of  his  is  moderately  genial 
and  tells  of  a  gathering  from  which  the  formality  of 
city  life  is  absent,  and  where  "the  ladies  are  in 
vited  to  sing.  Those  with  flexible  and  melodious 
voices  are  applauded  and  don't  have  to  be  urged 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

to  sing  again.  Everyone  is  willing  to  sing  because 
they  are  sufficiently  well  brought  up  in  the  des 
erts  of  the  New  World  to  dislike  those  snobs  who 
permit  themselves  to  hiss  a  woman  who  has 
yielded  to  the  invitations  of  her  friends.  When 
a  young  American  woman  starts  to  sing,  she  be 
gins  by  putting  on  a  very  grave  appearance. 
Her  features,  which  a  smile  would  embellish,  are 
drawn  down;  she  remains  perfectly  perpendic 
ular  on  her  chair,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  floor — 
and  one  waits  until  her  voice  begins  to  proclaim 
that  she  is  not  petrified."  A  few  years  later,  we 
find  that  a  change  has  set  in,  and  that  in  Boston 
"music,  which  their  Presbyterian  ministers  for 
merly  described  as  a  diabolical  art,  is  beginning  to 
form  a  part  of  their  education.  The  piano  is 
heard  in  some  wealthy  homes."  He  hopes,  how 
ever,  that  although  music  is  coming  into  its  own 
as  one  of  the  social  amenities,  Boston  women  will 
never  get  the  rage  for  such  perfection  in  it  as  the 
French;  "  it  is  never  acquired  except  at  the  expense 
of  the  domestic  virtues !"  says  the  serious  and  in 
quisitive  philosopher  Brissot,  who  brought  with 
him  in  1788  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Lafayette 
to  Washington,  which  described  him  as  "a  man  of 
letters,  who  .  .  .  greatly  desires  to  be  presented  to 
you;  he  intends  to  undertake  a  history  of  America, 
and  you  will  therefore  please  him  very  much  if 
you  let  him  look  over  your  papers ;  for  he  really 

[42] 


Richard  Peters. 

From  the  painting  by  Rembrandt  Peale  ii 
Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fiue  Arts. 


the 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

loves  America,  writes  well,  and  will  set  out  mat 
ters  in  their  true  light." 

The  correct  hours  for  the  paying  of  formal 
visits  were  so  variously  reported  by  the  French 
that  one  is  led  to  believe  that  there  was  no  set 
tled  rule  in  this  regard,  at  least  when  the  receiv 
ing  of  such  welcome  visitors  was  involved.  It  is, 
however,  rather  surprising  to  find  in  the  pages  of 
Chastellux:  "We  went  to  see  the  ladies,  follow 
ing  the  Philadelphia  custom  where  the  morning 
is  the  most  suitable  time  to  make  visits." 

Of  course  our  love  of  shaking  hands  did  not 
escape  observation.  How  much  depends  on  the 
point  of  view !  Baron  Closen  thought  it  strange 
that  the  French  custom  of  men  kissing  each 
other  when  they  met,  even  in  the  public  streets 
"caused  much  laughter  among  the  Americans," 
and  he  stoutly  maintains  that  "the  American 
habit  of  giving  long  and  violent  hand-shakes  is 
just  as  comic  as  the  European  kissing  custom ! " 

The  gentle  art  of  conversation  has  always  been 
popular  in  this  country,  and  our  earnest  (and 
excessive?)  practice  of  it  ought  to  have  brought 
us  perfection  in  all  its  possibilities.  Our  con 
versational  gifts  appealed  strongly  to  the  French, 
whose  comments  thereon  are  almost  all  in  a  fa 
vorable  vein,  the  most  notable  exception  being 
Felix  de  Beaujour,  according  to  whom  "the 
conversation  of  the  men  turns  generally  upon 

[43] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

politics  or  upon  business — a  favorite  topic,  for 
the  American  loses  no  chance  to  make  money. 
Wealth  is  the  subject  of  all  his  conversation  and 
the  reason  for  all  his  actions."  That  most  of  the 
French  admired  the  state  of  conversation  as  a 
polite  art  in  America  is  praise  indeed  from  a 
people  possessing  the  high  traditions  of  their  fa 
mous  salons  of  the  preceding  century.  Brissot, 
upon  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  a  Boston  club, 
was  pleased  by  "the  information  which  they  dis 
play  in  their  conversation."  Of  that  same  city 
Mandrillon  reports  that  the  conversation,  as  well 
as  "the  houses,  furniture,  clothes,  food  and  cus 
toms  all  resemble  so  closely  life  in  old  London 
that  it  was  difficult  to  find  any  difference  between 
it  and  that  which  always  goes  on  in  the  midst  of 
the  excessive  population  of  great  capitals."  What 
adjective  would  he  nowadays  use  for  their  popu 
lation  ! 

Chastellux,  while  in  Boston,  paid  "  a  visit  to  Miss 
Tudor,  where  we  once  more  had  the  satisfaction 
of  a  quiet  conversation,  interrupted  from  time  to 
time  by  agreeable  music,  which  carried  us  rapidly 
on  to  the  hour  when  we  had  to  go  to  the  club." 
Equally  satisfying  were  his  conversational  experi 
ences  in  Philadelphia,  and  of  one  occasion  in  parti 
cular  he  comments  so  illuminatingly  as  almost  to 
revive  the  scene  and  make  us  participators  therein : 
"The  13th  I  went  to  dine  with  the  southern  Del- 

[44] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

egates  in  company  with  the  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne 
and  the  French  travellers.  Mr.  Sharp  and  Mr. 
Mutterson  were  the  nearest  to  me.  I  entered  into 
conversation  with  them  and  was  very  pleased  with 
what  they  had  to  say ;  I  was  still  more  so  with  that 
which  I  heard  the  same  evening  at  Madame  Mere 
dith's  (daughter  of  General  Cadwallader).  It  was 
the  first  time  I  met  this  agreeable  family,  although 
Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne  was  on  intimate  terms 
with  them,  but  they  had  just  arrived  from  the 
country  where  General  Cadwallader  was  detained 
by  some  business.  Madame  Meredith  has  three 
or  four  sisters  or  sisters-in-law.  I  was  astonished 
at  the  ease  and  gaiety  which  reigned  in  this  fam 
ily,  and  regretted  not  to  have  known  them  sooner. 
I  conversed  more  particularly  with  Madame  Mere 
dith  who  appeared  very  amiable  and  well  edu 
cated.  For  an  hour  we  talked  of  literature, 
poetry  and  especially  of  history.  I  found  that 
she  was  well  informed  on  that  of  France,  the  re 
lations  of  Francis  I  to  Henry  IV,  Turenne  and 
Conde,  of  Richelieu  and  Mazarin, — all  seemed 
familiar  to  her,  and  she  treated  of  them  with  much 
grace,  spirit,  and  naturalness.  While  I  was  talk 
ing  with  Madame  Meredith,  Mr.  Linch  was  en 
gaged  with  Miss  Polly  Cadwallader,  and  she  like 
wise  made  a  conquest,  so  much  so  that  when  we 
left  them  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne  amused  him 
self  greatly  at  the  enthusiasm  which  their  society 

[45] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

had  inspired,  and  our  regrets  at  having  known 
them  so  late.  It  must  be  said  in  honor  of  the 
ladies  that  not  one  of  them  is  what  you  would 
call  pretty."  Volney,  the  geologist,  disagrees 
completely  with  the  author  just  quoted,  for  he 
considers  us  a  taciturn  race,  but  it  is  pleasing  to 
note  that  he  is  convinced  "that  the  domestic 
silence  of  the  Americans  is  one  of  the  most  radical 
causes  for  their  industry,  activity,  and  success  in 
agriculture,  commerce  and  the  arts."  It  would 
seem  as  if  our  ancestors  were  as  gifted  in  pleasing 
certain  foreigners  by  silence,  as  others  by  con 
versation  ! 

Because  they  came  from  France,  a  country 
where  social  geology  had  long  been  clearly  strati 
fied,  it  would  have  been  but  natural  if  our  writers 
had  devoted  considerable  time  and  many  pages 
to  an  inquiry  anent  social  classification  as  prac 
tised  in  a  republic,  but  strangely  enough  the  refer 
ences  to  this  subject  are  but  few,  although  those 
few  are  illuminating.  Nearly  all  of  them  take 
frequent  occasion  to  laud  the  perfect  equality 
everywhere  to  be  found  in  our  land.  Especially 
did  they  notice  this  while  travelling  and  in  places 
of  public  entertainment,  as  will  appear  in  the 
chapters  devoted  to  those  subjects.  Even  mili 
tary  titles  did  not  carry  with  them  any  social 
distinction,  says  Dupetit-Thouars,  who  was 
amazed  to  see  a  shoemaker  who  had  been  a  col- 

[46] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

onel,  and  an  apothecary  who  was  a  general !  Al 
though  opportunity  was  equally  open  to  every 
one,  our  foreign  friends  did  not  fail  to  observe 
that  society  as  usual  made  certain  regulations  to 
govern  its  members.  Of  course  Bayard  had  his 
customary  fling  at  those  regulations,  and  con 
cluded  that  there  was  among  us  no  other  test  of 
social  rank  than  the  possession  of  wealth:  "The 
inhabitants  of  Philadelphia,  like  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  are  classified  by  their  fortunes. 
The  first  class  is  composed  of  carriage  folk.  Almost 
all  these  gentry,  whatever  their  origin,  have  their 
coats  of  arms  painted  upon  their  carriage-doors. 
The  son  of  a  deported  thief  has  liveried  servants 
just  like  everybody  else.  Nobility  having  been 
abolished  by  the  Constitution  alone,  it  is  not 
astonishing  that  so  many  individuals  pretend  to 
be  descended  from  ancient  English  families. 
This  fad  becomes  a  sort  of  mania  in  mercantile 
cities.  The  second  class  is  composed  of  mer 
chants,  lawyers,  and  business  men  without  car 
riages,  and  doctors  who  pay  their  visits  on  foot. 
In  a  third  class  are  found  people  who  exercise 
the  mechanical  arts.  Ladies  who  possess  car 
riages  never  so  far  forget  themselves  as  to  receive 
in  their  homes  those  of  the  third  class!  The 
people  engage  in  commerce  with  all  the  ardor 
which  vanity,  long  credits  and  the  hope  of  gain 
ing  a  fortune  easily  and  rapidly  can  inspire.  The 

[4?] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

more  business  a  man  does  the  more  he  is  consid 
ered.  'He  is,'  say  they,  'a  very  busy  man': 
this  title  obviates  the  need  for  meriting  any 
other.  Business  is  mentioned  with  the  same  en 
thusiasm  which  the  French  employ  to  describe 
some  generous  action,  or  to  give  a  panegyric. 
When  a  candidate  for  office  publishes  his  platform 
in  the  newspapers,  he  begins  by  enumerating 
how  much  he  is  worth.  The  position  of  a  rich 
man  is  the  most  brilliant  which  a  citizen  can 
desire." 

Supposing  that  this  alleged  state  of  affairs  were 
not  overcolored,  it  would  be  interesting  to  note  how 
absolutely  consistent  it  is  with  the  statistics  given 
by  Price  Collier,  to  show  that  an  English  peerage  is 
generally  the  reward  of  a  marked  success  in  the 
business  world.  The  colonists  were  chiefly  of  Eng 
lish  origin  and,  therefore,  why  shouldn't  they  have 
exhibited  English  tendencies  in  social  classification 
as  well  as  in  other  respects  ?  Beaujour  is  one  of  the 
few  to  agree  with  Bayard's  extreme  view  upon  the 
power  of  wealth  in  our  country:  "In  Europe 
there  is  greatly  praised  the  equality  which  reigns 
among  them  (Americans)  but  this  equality  is  less 
real  than  seeming,  because  custom  establishes  in 
society  here  even  more  decided  lines  than  else 
where,  and  distinctions  the  more  odious  because 
they  are  founded  on  nothing  but  wealth,  without 
any  regard  for  talents  or  even  for  public  office. 

U8] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

There  is  nothing  in  this  country  but  extreme 
liberty  or  extreme  dependence — everybody  is 
master  or  servant,  and  you  do  not  see  any  of 
those  intermediate  classes  which  elsewhere  serve 
to  bridge  over  the  chasm."  Talleyrand  (des 
tined  later  to  be  Napoleon's  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs)  sugar-coats  this  bitter  pill  of  Beaujour, 
for  although  he  admits  our  passion  for  acquiring 
wealth,  he  insists  that  we  have  an  equally  strong 
one  for  independence.  One  day  in  Maine  he 
said  to  a  man  who  had  never  visited  Philadelphia: 
"When  you  go  there  you  wilt  be  glad  to  see  Gen 
eral  Washington."  "Yes,  indeed,"  replied  he, 
and  added,  with  his  eyes  sparkling,  "and  I  also 
want  to  see  Bingham  who  they  say  is  so  rich!" 
Washington  the  champion  of  liberty,  and  Bing 
ham  the  man  of  wealth — together  they  incar 
nated  America  for  him ! 

Surprising  as  was  our  social  equality  to  these 
aristocratic  Frenchmen,  even  more  astonished 
were  they  at  the  extent  to  which  love  of  luxury 
evidenced  itself  in  this  democracy  of  the  new 
world.  They  came  from  a  land  possessing  to  a 
remarkable  extent  an  admirable  inbred  frugality, 
and  they  were,  therefore,  all  the  more  easily 
shocked  by  the  wide-spread  love  of  luxury  in 
America.  Comte  de  Segur  remarked  in  Boston 
that  "democracy  has  not  banished  luxury;  no 
where  in  the  United  States  did  one  see  so  much 

[49l 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

wealth  and  so  agreeable  society."  Nor  was  this 
true  in  the  cities  alone,  for  Talleyrand  found  "on 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  a  house  built  of 
roughly  hewn  logs,  a  piano,  adorned  with  really 
beautiful  bronzes.  When  Monsieur  de  Beau- 
metz  opened  it  Mr.  Smith  said  to  him,  'Don't 
try  to  play  on  it,  because  our  piano-tuner,  who 
lives  a  hundred  miles  off.  didn't  come  this  year.'  ' 
The  large  number  of  comments  on  this  subject 
makes  it  clear  that  love  of  luxury  had  as  firm  a 
hold  upon  the  wife  of  the  day-laborer  as  upon 
the  wealthiest  households.  Of  Philadelphia,  Bay 
ard  says:  "Few  cities  in  the  world  have  so  large 
a  proportion  of  shops  as  the  Capital  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  The  owners  of  these  shops  often  indulge 
in  luxury  beyond  their  means."  It  would  seem 
that  the  high  cost  of  living  is  an  ancient,  and  not 
a  recent  defect  in  our  body  politic. 

Our  national  purity  of  speech  and  manners  was 
a  never-failing  source  of  surprise  to  the  French. 
Perhaps  they  gave  us  more  credit  in  that  respect 
than  we  deserved,  because  subconsciously  aware 
that  the  upper  classes  in  their  own  land  were 
then  touching  a  lower  moral  ebb  than  ever  be 
fore  in  their  history.  It  is  gratifying  to  record 
of  the  Due  de  Lauzun's  cynical  memoirs  that  only 
that  one-tenth  which  describes  his  stay  in  America 
is  clean  and  wholesome.  It  is  a  significant  testi 
monial  to  his  American  environment  that  almost 

[Bo] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

the  only  decent  comment  upon  women  made  by 
this  profligate  braggart  is  one  on  Mrs.  Hunter  of 
Newport  and  her  two  daughters:  "I  was  never 
in  love  with  the  Hunter  girls,  but  if  they  had 
been  my  sisters,  I  could  not  have  been  more  at 
tached  to  them."  A  miracle  indeed !  but,  unfor 
tunately,  only  a  temporary  one,  for  its  effect 
seemed  to  last  only  so  long  as  he  trod  American 
soil.  Bayard  characterizes  our  national  decency 
as  prudery,  even  insisting  that  it  materially  re 
duced  our  vocabulary,  as  witness  the  unwilling 
ness  of  our  women  to  use  such  a  word  as  "shirt"  ! 
Beaujour  was  much  fairer  than  Bayard,  and 
thought  crudity  was  a  fairer  term  to  apply  than 
prudery,  and  on  the  whole  deals  leniently  with 
us:  "Some  writers,  and  especially  the  French, 
have  praised  American  customs,  while  others, 
and  especially  the  English,  have  decried  them. 
Both  of  them  have  gone  to  excess.  In  this  coun 
try,  as  in  others,  there  is  a  mingling  of  vice  and 
virtue,  but  the  virtues  appear  less  attractive 
than  elsewhere  because  they  are  rarely  accom 
panied  by  that  grace  which  makes  them  admirable, 
while  the  vices  here  appear  more  hideous  because 
Americans  know  nothing  of  the  art  of  disguising 
them  under  a  deceitful  exterior.  The  American 
has  a  crudity  of  manner  which  displays  him  in  an 
unfavorable  light  to  strangers."  Chastellux  as 
sents  to  crudity  as  a  fair  description  of  our  early 


FRENCH   MEMORIES  OF 

manners,  but  utterly  fails  to  see  the  prudery 
which  gained  Bayard's  notice.  Moreover,  he  is 
more  hopeful  than  Bayard  as  to  the  future  which 
is  in  store  for  us:  "If  music  and  the  fine  arts 
prosper  in  Philadelphia,  if  society  becomes  easy 
and  gay  there,  if  they  learn  to  appreciate  pleasure 
when  it  comes  without  being  formally  invited, 
then  one  will  be  able  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages 
resulting  from  their  customs  and  government 
without  having  to  envy  anything  in  Europe." 
The  purity  which  was  generally  remarked  by 
the  French  as  characterizing  our  social  inter 
course  certainly  produced  an  admirable  effect  in 
our  public  life,  as  Brissot  points  out:  "The  fre 
quent  exercise  of  reason  produces  among  the 
Americans  a  great  number  of  individuals  known 
as  men  of  principle.  This  name  sufficiently  in 
dicates  their  character,  a  type  so  little  known 
among  us  that  it  has  not  even  been  named. 
It  is  among  these  men  of  principle  that  you 
will  find  the  true  heroes  of  humanity — Howard, 
Fothergill,  Penn,  Franklin,  Washington,  Sydney, 
Ludlow."  Segur.  as  son  of  a  Cabinet  Minister 
at  the  brilliant  French  court,  was  peculiarly 
fitted  to  notice  the  effect  of  this  general  purity 
of  manners  upon  the  assemblies  and  balls  held 
at  Providence,  "greater  than  I  ever  remember  to 
have  seen  in  any  other  place." 

It  is  not  necessary  for  one  to  read  many  French 
[5a] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

memoirs  of  our  revolutionary  and  nation-forming 
period  before  being  struck  by  the  wide  scope  of 
the  observations  therein  set  out.  Nothing  seemed 
to  escape  the  attention  and  even  the  study  of 
those  actively  intelligent  friends  from  across  the 
sea.  Highly  interesting  as  they  are  upon  all 
phases  of  American  life,  upon  none  are  they  more 
peculiarly  competent  to  speak  than  upon  society 
—that  was  a  game  of  which  they  knew  all  the 
rules.  Of  how  they  were  impressed  by  what  our 
ancestors  ate  and  drank,  what  they  wore,  their 
methods  of  travelling,  how  they  studied  and  then 
thought,  and  sundry  other  allied  matters — we  say 
in  Elizabethan  phrase,  "more  anon." 


53] 


CHAPTER  III 

DRESS  AND  FRENCH  FASHIONS. 
COURTSHIP  AND   MARRIAGE 

THERE  is  nothing  which  pleases  an  American 
more  than  to  discuss  something  with  somebody, 
and  just  at  present  no  subject  is  more  popular 
than  the  high  cost  of  living.  We  are  all  seeking 
a  St.  George  who  can  slay  this  dragon,  but  thus 
far  without  success.  There  are  some  who  with 
more  philosophy  than  flippancy  declare  that  we 
are  suffering  from  the  cost  of  high  living,  rather 
than  the  high  cost  of  living — they  say  it  can  be 
seen  on  every  side.  Curiously  enough,  that  is 
just  what  the  Frenchmen  said  of  our  forebears 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Felix  de 
Reaujour  thought  "Americans  make  immoderate 
use  of  all  the  commodities  of  wealth;  no  people 
have  more  clothes.  Elsewhere  luxury  is  only  to 
be  found  in  the  upper  ranks  of  society,  but  here 
it  is  everywhere,  and  it  has  even  penetrated  to 
the  cottage  of  the  workingman  and  the  country 
laborer,  so  much  so  that  in  the  United  States 
there  is  no  distinction  in  dress.  The  maid  is 
dressed  like  her  mistress,  and  the  poorest  work- 

[54] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

man  like  the  First  Magistrate."  Even  more  ex 
plicit  is  Chastellux:  "Such  is  the  present  good 
fortune  of  America  that  there  are  no  very  poor 
people  to  be  seen  and  everyone  enjoys  easy  cir 
cumstances.  If  some  individuals  possess  less  than 
others,  so  unlimited  are  the  resources  ready  to 
hand  that  their  minds  seem  to  be  occupied  with 
what  their  future  condition  will  be  rather  than 
with  realizing  their  present  one.  Such  is  the 
general  equality  of  condition  that  those  things 
which  everywhere  else  would  be  regarded  as 
luxuries  are  here  considered  necessities.  So  it  is 
that  the  salary  of  a  workingman  must  not  only 
provide  subsistence  for  his  family,  but  also  com 
fortable  furniture  for  the  home,  tea  and  coffee 
for  his  wife,  and  a  silk  dress  to  put  on  every  time 
she  goes  out.  This  is  the  principal  cause  for 
the  high  cost  of  labor,  although  it  is  generally 
blamed  to  a  lack  of  hands."  Chateaubriand  pro 
tests  that  a  man  visiting  the  United  States  as 
he  did,  expecting  to  see  "the  austerity  of  early 
Roman  customs"  in  the  new  republic,  would  be 
"scandalized  by  finding  on  all  sides  elegance  of 
attire,  luxury  of  equipages,  frivolity  of  conver 
sation,  inequality  of  fortune, — the  tumult  of  ball 
rooms  and  theatricals."  Bayard  hints  that  a 
protest  was  already  arising  against  this  whole 
sale  desertion  of  simplicity  (how  useless  a  protest 
we  to-day  can  testify):  "In  vain  Citizen  Living- 

[55] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ston,  of  venerable  memory,  recalled  his  fair 
compatriots  to  their  spinning  wheels  and  to  con 
servative  simplicity  of  manners  and  fortune,  for 
he  was  not  listened  to, — his  writings  are  not  read. 
Even  the  Quakers,  whose  luxury  is  of  a  less  no 
ticeable  sort,  cannot  escape  this  criticism.  Their 
men  have  discarded  long  wristbands,  but  they 
still  wear  shirts  of  fine  linen  and  buy  expensive 
cloth  from  England  in  which  to  attire  themselves. 
Their  wives  do  not  wear  feathers,  but  they  are 
as  fastidious  in  their  linen  as  their  husbands,  and 
their  dresses  are  of  Bengal  cloth.  The  Quakers 
load  their  tables  with  silver.  This  excessive 
luxury  is  the  more  objectionable  because,  like  a 
miser,  it  absorbs  the  precious  metals,  which  are 
valuable  only  in  circulation.  The  rage  for  luxury 
has  reached  such  a  point  that  the  wife  of  the 
laboring  man  wishes  to  vie  with  the  merchant's 
wife,  and  she  in  turn  will  not  yield  to  the  richest 
woman  in  Europe."  That  they  were  not  collec 
tors  of  silver  alone  appears  from  Blanchard: 
"They  are  also  very  fastidious  about  cups  and 
saucers  for  tea  or  coffee,  as  well  as  concerning 
glass,  decanters  and  other  articles  of  that  sort, 
for  daily  use." 

Nor  was  this  state  of  affairs  confined  to  the  cities, 
for  Brissot  observes  it  in  that  State  where  city  life 
was  peculiarly  secondary  to  that  of  the  country: 
"The  Virginians  indulge  in  a  cheap  luxury.  Peo- 

[561 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

pie  who  have  lived  on  intimate  terms  with  them 
assure  me  that  even  the  richest  have  only  five  or  six 
shirts,  generally  only  two  or  three — while  they  are 
wearing  one,  the  other  is  being  washed — washer 
women  are  very  expeditious.  Their  shirts  are  fine, 
and  so  are  their  silk  stockings.  The  trousseau  of 
a  girl  about  to  be  married  is  composed  of  only  a 
few  chemises.  I  observed  also  that  they  do  not 
understand  the  use  of  napkins,  that  they  wear 
silk  scarves,  and  that  instead  of  using  handker 
chiefs  they  blow  their  noses  with  their  fingers, 
or  with  a  silk  handkerchief  which  serves  as 
cravat,  napkin,  etc."  He  also  noticed  that 
American  women  have  the  fashion  of  wearing 
shawls. 

Then  as  now,  while  the  working  classes  lived 
far  better  than  their  prototypes  in  Europe,  they 
also  had  to  pay  more  for  what  they  bought. 
Brissot  tells  of  a  shirt  costing  fifty  francs:  "In 
Paris  it  would  be  worth  four  and  a  half  francs 
—everything  else  in  proportion."  Gerard  the 
French  Minister  wrote  his  government,  Septem 
ber  10,  1778:  "All  merchandize  sells  for  four  or 
five  times  more  than  it  was  worth  before  the 
war,  and  many  articles  sell  in  the  proportion  of 
six  to  one."  One  of  his  successors,  Minister 
Adet,  complains  bitterly  to  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  (July  18,  1795),  because  of  the  high 
cost  of  living  at  the  American  seat  of  government : 

[57] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

"The  expenditures  to  which  I  find  myself  con 
demned  alarm  me.  Although  I  live  like  an  or 
dinary  citizen  of  Philadelphia — although  my 
dinners  are  ordered  with  republican  frugality— 
I  shall  spend  more  than  you  allow  me,  and  shall 
be  unable  to  serve  my  country  as  I  would  wish. 
...  If  my  stipend  sufficed  for  my  expenses  I 
\vould  not  complain  of  my  inability  to  save  any 
thing  .  .  .  but  there  are  expenses  that  I  cannot 
meet  as  did  former  Ministers  of  large  private 
fortune."  His  immediate  predecessor,  Minister 
Fouchet,  had  already  paved  the  way  for  him  by 
reporting  home  December  20,  1794,  that  "the 
American  people  rival  in  luxury  the  greatest 
European  cities." 

It  would  be  worse  than  the  traditional  Irish 
bull — a  wild  mixing  of  metaphors — if  we  should 
attempt  to  combine  "fine  feathers  make  fine 
birds,"  with  the  idea  that  the  said  fine  birds 
would  consent  to  hide  their  lights  under  a  bushel. 
That  strict  churchman,  Abbe  Robin,  was  not  de 
ceived  as  to  the  purpose  inspiring  some  people 
to  attend  divine  service:  "Piety  is  by  no  means 
the  only  motive  which  brings  crowds  of  American 
women  to  church.  Having  no  theatres  or  pub 
lic  promenades,  the  churches  are  the  only  places 
of  public  resort  where  they  can  show  off  their 
new  and  constantly  increasing  luxury;  they  there 
display  themselves  arrayed  in  silk,  and  sometimes 

[581 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

shaded  with  superb  headdresses,  their  hair  piled 
up  on  frames  in  imitation  of  the  French  fashions 
of  some  years  ago.  Instead  of  using  powder  they 
wash  themselves  with  soap,  which  does  not  always 
suit  them;  they  are  generally  agreeable  blonds. 
The  most  fastidious  are  learning,  however,  to 
adopt  European  fashions."  This  observation  con 
cerning  the  utilizing  of  church  to  exhibit  one's 
finery  is  indorsed  by  La  Rochefoucauld:  "All 
through  America  it  is  the  great  ambition  of  a  new 
township  to  build  a  church;  if  there  be  added 
thereto  a  good  tavern,  it  acquires  a  certain  stand 
ing  among  other  townships  not  so  well  provided. 
Apart  from  subserving  municipal  vanity,  the 
church  is  particularly  desired  by  young  people  of 
both  sexes,  by  the  young  girls  especially,  who  go 
there  to  display  their  carefully  made  toilettes, 
and  to  meet  their  friends." 

Perhaps  we  have  always  been  a  vain  people, 
but  is  a  national  vanity  to  be  despised  which 
caused  such  wide-spread  neatness  of  attire  as 
to  elicit  the  unanimously  favorable  comment  of 
foreigners?  They  were  quick  to  notice  the  ab 
sence  of  those  rags  which  in  Europe  proved  that 
equality  of  opportunity  did  not  exist,  and  that 
degradation  had  persisted  so  long  as  to  create  a 
social  caste.  "Of  all  that  pleases  a  stranger  ar 
riving  in  the  United  States,"  says  Beaujour, 
"nothing  is  more  pleasing  than  the  external 

[59] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

cleanliness  noticeable  everywhere,  in  the  streets, 
the  houses  and  the  clothing.  Everybody  is  de 
cently  dressed.  The  men  wear  woollen  suits,  the 
women  cloth  dresses,  generally  white,  always 
with  clean  linen,  and  nobody  is  to  be  seen  in  pub 
lic  with  those  hideous  rags  so  distressing  in  other 
countries." 

No  one  showed  himself  better  qualified  to  recog 
nize  whence  came  the  fashions  which  then  as 
always  won  the  hearts  of  our  fair  compatriots 
than  the  observant  priest,  Abbe  Robin,  who 
"hardly  expected  to  find  French  fashions  in  the 
midst  of  American  forests.  The  headdresses  of 
all  the  ladies,  except  Quakers,  are  high,  volu 
minous  and  adorned  with  our  veils.  One  is  sur 
prised  to  find  throughout  all  of  Connecticut  so 
active  a  taste  for  dress, — I  might  even  say,  so 
much  luxury  amid  customs  so  simple  and  pure 
that  they  resemble  those  of  the  ancient  patri 
archs."  Chastellux  found  not  only  this  taste  for 
French  fashions,  but  also  a  lady  champion  eager 
to  lead  a  crusade  in  their  favor,  who  "has  taste 
as  delicate  as  her  health.  Excessively  enthusi 
astic  over  French  fashions,  she  only  awaits  the 
end  of  this  trifling  revolution  now  taking  place 
to  initiate  an  even  more  important  one  in  the 
customs  of  her  nation."  In  some  centres  he  fears, 
however,  that  the  women  are  going  to  extremes; 
for  instance,  in  Annapolis  "the  luxury  of  the 

[GO] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

women  surpasses  that  of  our  provinces.  A  French 
hairdresser  is  a  man  of  importance  there;  one 
of  these  ladies  pays  hers  one  thousand  ecus 
wages."  Baron  Closen  reports:  ''The  women 
are  very  pretty,  have  good  style,  and  dress  ex 
cellently — some  even  following  the  French  fash 
ions."  So  attracted  was  he  by  the  appearance 
of  certain  fair  Americans  as  to  sketch  them  on 
the  margin  of  his  note-book.  Even  the  serious- 
minded  General  Rochambeau  could  not  fail  to 
notice  that  "the  women  have  taken  up  French 
fashions,  in  which  they  are  deeply  interested." 
St.  Mery  goes  more  into  details:  "Philadelphia 
women  delight  in  luxuries,  such  as  ribbons, 
shoes,  etc.,  but  no  veils  or  laces,  and  almost  no 
artificial  flowers."  Our  fastidious  visitors  were 
of  the  opinion  that  the  prevailing  luxury  in  dress 
did  not  of  itself  teach  our  women  how  to  use  it 
to  the  best  advantage,  at  least  so  thought  the 
Prince  de  Broglie:  "The  ladies  of  Philadelphia, 
although  magnificent  enough  in  their  costumes, 
generally  do  not  wear  them  with  much  taste.  In 
arranging  their  hair  they  have  less  lightness  of 
touch  than  our  French  women.  While  they 
have  good  figures,  they  lack  grace  and  make  their 
curtsies  badly."  Although  luxury  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  habits  to  break,  Brissot  shows  that 
our  women  could  and  did,  when  patriotism  de 
manded  it,  put  aside  the  insidious  delights  of 

[61] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

dress:  "Even  in  the  larger  cities  Americans  are 
being  driven  to  ruinous  luxury;  for  this  reason 
there  has  been  formed  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
an  association  of  leading  ladies  who,  in  order  to 
assist  in  paying  off  the  Public  Debt,  agreed  at  a 
meeting  held  November  6,  1776,  no  longer  to 
buy  gauzes,  ribbons,  feathers,  silk  or,  in  general, 
any  articles  demanded  by  foreign  fashions." 

That  women  should  love  dress  struck  the  French 
as  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  but 
that  was  the  only  particular  in  which  Ameri 
can  women  fitted  in  with  the  preconceived  no 
tions  of  them  entertained  by  those  observers 
fresh  from  an  older  civilization  and  a  stricter 
etiquette.  Of  the  many  novelties  that  engaged 
their  attention,  nothing  was  more  un-European 
than  our  attitude  toward  marriage,  not  only  in 
respect  to  the  liberty  accorded  young  people 
while  arranging  for  it,  but  also  in  the  effect 
which  marriage  later  had  upon  the  girls  them 
selves.  They  are  almost  shocked  at  the  freedom 
our  girls  enjoyed,  and  yet  they  frankly  admit 
that  no  harm  came  of  it  either  before  or  after 
marriage,  for  they  settled  down  more  sedately 
as  married  women  than  did  the  artificially  guarded 
and  overrestrained  jeunes  filles  of  their  own 
country,  who  looked  forward  to  marriage  as 
meaning  freedom  from  the  petty  tyrannies  of 
their  childhood.  Instead  of  finding  marriage  ar- 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ranged  by  the  parents,  according  to  European 
fashion,  this  delicate  business,  to  the  surprise- 
nay,  consternation — of  the  Frenchmen,  seemed 
entirely  confided,  forsooth,  to  the  young  people 
themselves.  St.  Mery  says:  "The  choice  of  a 
sweetheart  is  without  exception  made  publicly, 
and  the  relatives  indulge  in  no  formalities  in  re 
spect  of  it,  because  such  is  the  custom  of  the 
country.  The  chosen  sweetheart  comes  to  the 
house  whenever  he  pleases,  he  takes  his  beloved 
out  walking  when  he  likes.  Often  he  comes  on 
Sunday  with  a  cabriolet  to  fetch  her,  and  brings 
her  back  in  the  evening  without  anyone  asking 
where  they  have  been.  Young  people  sit  up 
spooning  after  their  elders  go  to  bed,  and  some 
times  a  late  returning  servant  will  find  them 
both  asleep  and  the  candle  burned  out — so  cold 
is  love  in  that  country." 

Let  us  see  what  use,  according  to  Crevecceur,  the 
youngsters  make  of  the  liberty  allowed  during  this 
interesting  period:  "These  young  people  sit  and 
talk  and  divert  themselves  to  the  best  of  their 
ability.  If  someone  has  lately  returned  from  a 
cruise  he  is  generally  the  speaker  of  the  evening. 
They  often  all  laugh  and  talk  at  once,  but  they  are 
happy  and  would  not  exchange  their  amusements 
for  those  of  the  most  brilliant  assemblies  in  Europe. 
This  lasts  until  the  father  and  mother  return,  when 
all  retire  to  their  respective  homes — the  men  re- 

[63] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

conducting  the  partners  of  their  affections.  Thus 
they  spend  many  of  the  youthful  evenings 
of  their  lives;  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  they 
marry  so  early."  How  wisely  the  young  girls 
set  about  this  important  business  of  choosing  a 
life  partner  appears  from  Bayard:  "The  time 
which  passes  between  the  proposal  and  the  mar 
riage  is  given  over  to  mutual  observation.  The 
girls  insist  upon  an  absolute  independence  which 
they  devote  to  testing  the  character  of  their 
future  husband.  They  wish  to  learn  if  he  is 
bad  tempered,  if  he  is  constant,  if  jealousy  will 
not  some  day  render  him  troublesome  or  coarse. 
They  yield  to  every  fancy  which  comes  into  their 
heads,  and  do  everything  they  can  to  escape  the 
reproach  later  on  of  having  concealed  their  im 
perfections.  It  is  a  contest  of  frankness,  inspired 
by  the  desire  for  common  happiness."  Especially 
numerous  are  the  remarks  made  on  the  fact  that 
young  women  do  not  permit  jealousy  to  hamper 
their  freedom  before  marriage. 

Both  Brissot  and  Mazzei  make  vigorous  at 
tacks  upon  the  hard-hearted  bachelors,  the  former 
admitting,  however,  that  "luxury  is  already  de 
veloping  in  this  city  a  very  dangerous  class  of 
men,  bachelors,  for  the  extravagance  of  the 
women  makes  them  fear  marriage."  And  Mazzei 
adds:  "As  for  bachelors,  who  should  be  rarer 
here  than  in  Europe  (and  for  well-known  reasons), 

[64] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

they  are  more  numerous  in  Philadelphia  than  in 
any  other  American  city,  while  in  other  parts 
of  Pennsylvania  they  are  no  rarer  than  elsewhere." 
He  goes  on  to  tell  how  small  is  the  risk  which 
bachelors  are  running,  because  they  are  treated 
so  frankly  and  no  attempt  made  to  deceive  them: 
''The  young  girls  and  men  see  each  other  every 
hour  of  the  day,  and  that  too  without  masks; 
they  do  not  marry  unless  both  are  pleased,  and 
don't  postpone  until  too  late  the  discovery  that 
they  have  been  deceived.  The  object  of  both 
sexes  is  to  learn  each  other's  character.  It  does 
not  appear  that  beauty  alone  is  a  particular  at 
traction  to  young  men  of  wealth,  neither  is  it 
rare  for  a  girl  to  refuse  a  man  whose  face  and 
fortune  are  his  only  recommendations." 

How  much  freedom  they  enjoyed  after  they 
had  made  their  choice  is  clear  from  Brissot: 
"You  will  see  a  young  girl  drive  off  with  her 
sweetheart  in  a  light  carriage,  and  injurious  sus 
picion  never  interferes  with  the  pure  pleasures  of 
this  trip  into  the  country.  When  they  are 
mothers,  Boston  women  become  reserved;  their 
manner  is  always,  however,  open,  kindly,  and 
communicative.  Given  over  entirely  to  house 
keeping,  they  busy  themselves  solely  with  making 
their  husbands  happy  and  bringing  up  the  chil 
dren."  Rochambeau  gives  a  hint  that  unmar 
ried  girls  confined  themselves  strictly  to  the 

[65] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

business  in  hand,  and  did  not  waste  time  on 
married  men:  "The  girls  enjoy  the  utmost  free 
dom  until  they  are  married.  Their  first  ques 
tion  is  to  learn  if  you  are  married;  if  you  are, 
the  conversation  falls  flat;  once  married,  they 
give  themselves  entirely  to  their  new  author 
ity."  Of  a  certain  Virginia  dame  Blanchard 
relates  that  "they  say  she  is  rather  gay,  which 
is  rare  in  America;  but  then,"  he  adds,  "she 
was  born  in  Europe  and  did  not  come  here  until 
she  was  seventeen,  and  seems  desirous  of  going 
back." 

The  entire  absence  among  us  of  the  European 
custom  of  parents  providing  their  daughters  with 
marriage  portions  or  "dots"  excites  many  com 
ments  from  our  visitors.  Crevecoeur  explains 
why  this  is  true:  "At  Nantucket,  as  I  observed 
before,  every  man  takes  a  wife  as  soon  as  he 
chooses,  and  that  is  generally  very  young.  No 
marriage  portion  is  required,  none  is  expected. 
No  marriage  articles  are  drawn  up  by  skilful 
lawyers  to  puzzle  and  lead  posterity  to  the  Courts, 
or  to  satisfy  the  pride  of  the  contracting  parties. 
They  give  nothing  with  their  daughters.  Their 
education,  their  health,  and  the  customary  outfit 
are  all  that  the  fathers  of  numerous  families  can 
afford.  As  the  wife's  fortune  consists  principally 
of  her  prospective  economy,  modesty,  and  skil 
ful  management,  so  the  husband's  is  founded  on 

[66] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

his  ability  to  work,  his  health,  and  his  knowledge 
of  some  trade  or  business." 

Not  only  was  this  true  of  New  England,  but  also 
in  Maryland,  says  Bayard,  who  sets  out  very  clearly 
the  many  advantages  of  our  system:  "They  give 
their  daughters  at  marriage  a  small  trousseau  and 
the  slave  who  was  the  companion  of  her  infancy. 
I  wish  this  were  also  true  in  France,  for  there  you 
can  wager  a  thousand  to  one  that  a  rich  girl  will 
be  married  by  a  man  of  no  delicacy  of  feeling, 
but  who  is  in  love  with  her  dowry.  The  victim 
of  his  cupidity,  no  longer  loved  by  the  vile  spec 
ulator,  will  have  nothing  in  exchange  for  what 
she  gave  him  but  long  sad  years.  In  the  United 
States  the  adventitious  circumstances  of  fortune, 
with  few  exceptions,  are  subordinated  to  mo 
rality,  and  the  two  sexes  get  along  very  well  to 
gether.  There,  marriage  is  a  matter  of  senti 
ment,  and  the  happiness  of  the  family  is  of  the 
first  importance,  so  that  purity  of  morals  takes 
care  of  itself  without  need  of  appealing  to  a 
magistrate.  All  the  children  are  brought  up  in 
the  bosom  of  a  worthy  family,  happy  in  the  har 
mony  thereof,  and  instinctively  organize  them 
selves  for  that  state  of  felicity,  and  become  vir 
tuous  when  they  are  grown  up." 

Perhaps  the  greatest  surprise  of  all  the  bewil 
dering  ones  that  marriage  a  ? americaine  seemed 
to  furnish  our  friends  from  the  Old  World  was  the 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

steadying  effect  its  responsibilities  obviously  had 
upon  those  very  maidens  whose  freedom  from  all 
restraint  before  marriage  seemed  destined  to 
make  them  unruly  after  that  ceremony.  We 
must  remember  that  it  was  still  the  golden  age 
when  everybody  married  young,  and  generally 
"lived  happily  ever  afterward."  Crevecceur  is 
but  one  of  many  to  remark  how  young  they 
married:  "A  general  decency  everywhere  pre 
vails;  the  reason,  I  believe,  is  that  almost  every 
body  here  is  married,  for  they  get  wives  very 
young  and  the  pleasure  of  returning  to  their 
families  overrules  every  other  desire."  The 
Comte  de  Revel,  although  less  than  a  month  in 
America,  felt  qualified  to  remark  that  "in  gen 
eral  the  married  women  are  more  reserved  than 
the  unmarried  ones."  How  opposite  was  this 
state  of  affairs  to  that  existing  in  Europe  ap 
pears  from  Mazzei:  "In  certain  European  na 
tions  girls  must  be  extremely  reserved,  and 
especially  so  with  young  men,  but  once  married 
they  do  not  bother  themselves  so  far  as  anybody 
is  concerned.  In  America,  on  the  contrary,  girls 
have  a  good  time  with  the  young  men,  but  mar 
ried  women  are  reserved,  and  their  husbands 
are  not  so  familiar  with  young  girls  as  before 
they  were  married." 

"Because  girls  may  go  unattended  to  parties," 
says  Perrin  du  Lac,  "married  women  seldom  go. 

[68] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

As  custom  does  not  require  them  to  accompany 
their  daughters,  they  generally  prefer  to  stay  at 
home  and  busy  themselves  with  their  other  children 
or  the  care  of  their  households. ' '  Bayard  also  bears 
witness  to  the  admirable  manner  in  which  married 
women  discharge  their  new  duties :  "When  girls  are 
called  to  undertake  the  duties  of  mothers  and  wives, 
they  seem  filled  with  all  the  dignity  of  their  new 
state.  The  airs  and  graces  of  youth  give  place 
to  a  reserve,  or  rather  to  a  delicious  withdrawal, 
the  proof  of  a  contented  soul  enjoying  in  silence 
the  happiness  which  it  absorbs.  They  carry  out 
with  fidelity  the  promise  of  obedience  which  they 
make  at  the  altar.  I  have  seen  women  whom 
fortune,  health,  and  beauty  tempted  to  every 
pleasure,  but  who  preferred  their  duty  to  all  of 
them."  And  how  seriously  they  took  these  new 
responsibilities  was  noticed  by  Crevecceur:  "But 
no  sooner  has  this  ceremony  been  performed 
than  they  cease  to  look  so  merry  and  gay.  The 
new  rank  they  hold  in  society  impresses  them 
with  more  serious  ideas  than  were  before  enter 
tained.  The  title  of  master  of  a  family  neces 
sarily  demands  more  solid  behavior  and  deport 
ment.  The  new  wife  follows  in  the  trammels  of 
custom,  which  are  as  powerful  as  the  tyrannies 
of  fashion.  She  gradually  advises  and  directs; 
the  husbands,  equally  obedient  to  the  ancient 
habits  of  their  country,  submit  without  feeling 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

any  impropriety  in  so  doing;  were  they  to  act 
otherwise  they  would  be  afraid  of  subverting  the 
principles  of  society  by  altering  its  ancient  rules; 
thus  both  parties  are  perfectly  satisfied,  and  all 
is  peace  and  concord."  Segur  "saw  several 
ladies  worthy  of  admiration  for  their  agreeable 
and  sprightly  manner  in  society.  Lacking  the 
grace  of  our  French  women,  they  nevertheless 
had  their  own  which,  for  being  more  simple,  was 
none  the  less  attractive." 

Beaujour  tells  us  that  in  our  land  of  many  re 
ligious  sects  and  much  religious  freedom,  the 
wives  generally  changed  to  the  religion  of  the 
husband.  But  they  were  free  to  do  as  they 
pleased,  as  Michaux  (junior)  points  out:  "Although 
divided  into  various  sects,  they  live  in  great  har 
mony,  and  difference  in  religion  is  no  obstacle 
to  marriage;  husband  and  wife  each  attend  the 
service  they  prefer;  this  also  applies  to  the  chil 
dren  when  they  grow  up,  and  that  too  without 
the  slightest  interference  from  their  parents." 
"Often  I  observed  this  spectacle,"  says  Talley 
rand,  "for  which  nothing  to  be  seen  in  Europe 
had  prepared  me — in  the  very  same  house  father, 
mother,  and  children  following  peaceably  and 
without  opposition  the  religion  each  preferred. 
Sundays  the  whole  family  starts  out  together, 
but  each  person  goes  to  his  own  church." 

St.  Mery  reports  an  amusing  local  custom  which 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

obtained  in  Philadelphia:  "For  three  mornings 
after  marriage  the  wife  serves  punch  and  cold 
refreshments  to  all  her  friends;  for  the  three  next 
days  she  gives  tea  in  the  evenings,  her  brides 
maids  assisting  her." 

Balch  says  of  those  ladies  of  long  ago:  "They 
bring  up  their  children  with  care,  and  pride  them 
selves  on  scrupulous  fidelity  to  their  husbands." 
We,  the  children  in  later  generations  of  the  chil 
dren  whom  these  ancestresses  reared,  must  be 
pardoned  an  especial  interest  in  what  the  French 
had  to  say  about  the  way  it  was  done:  "Chil 
dren  are  carefully  brought  up  in  the  paternal 
mansion;  there  they  enjoy  the  greatest  liberty 
and  but  little  attention  is  paid  to  them.  They 
go  and  come  without  being  subjected  to  annoy 
ing  questions  or  forced  to  make  ceremonious 
grimaces  called  politeness.  They  are  somewhat 
importunate,  and  very  frank.  But  although  they 
are  happy  while  in  the  bosom  of  the  family,  the 
age  of  iron  succeeds  rapidly  to  that  of  gold" — 
meaning  thereby  that  schoolmasters  were  over- 
strict.  St.  Mery  finds  children  are  particularly 
well  treated  in  Virginia,  and  Bayard  observed  a 
pleasant  instance  of  their  precocity  at  a  country 
house  near  Winchester  in  that  State:  "Dinner 
hour  having  sounded,  we  sat  down  at  a  round 
table,  his  daughter,  nine  years  old,  doing  the 
honors  very  gracefully  in  the  absence  of  her 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

mother."  Dupetit-Thouars  exclaims,  "New Eng 
land  is  the  home  of  pretty  children,"  and 
gives  such  a  charming  description  of  them  as  to 
make  it  clear  that  he  really  loved  them.  One 
and  all  agree  that  American  children  were  badly 
spoiled,  and  perhaps  there  are  some  of  us  to-day 
who  will  admit  that  our  customs  have  not  been 
noticeably  rectified  in  that  regard.  Very  much 
in  point  is  Chastellux's  anecdote  of  how  thought 
lessly  the  Schuyler  children  wounded  the  feel 
ings  of  the  English  prisoners  temporarily  lodged 
in  their  home:  "The  second  son  of  Mrs.  Schuy 
ler,  seven  years  old  (a  spoiled  child  as  are  most 
American  children — self-willed — now  spiteful,  now 
amiable,  running  about  the  house  all  day),  shouted 
with  laughter  on  seeing  the  Englishmen  and, 
slamming  the  door  on  them,  cried  out,  'You  are 
all  my  prisoners.'  This  naive  remark  was  cruel 
for  them,  and  made  them  sadder  than  they  were 
the  day  before."  To  this  anecdote  he  adds  the 
following  general  statement:  "In  America,  as  in 
England,  parents  spoil  their  children  when  young, 
and  abandon  them  to  themselves  as  soon  as  they 
are  grown  up,  so  that  in  those  two  nations,  edu 
cation  has  never  been  either  as  carefully  conducted 
or  as  prolonged  as  it  should  be.  Indulgence  of 
their  children  when  they  are  small  makes  them 
potty  domestic  tyrants;  negligence  during  their 
youth  makes  strangers  of  them."  It  is  refreshing 

[72] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

to  turn  from  this  last  comment  to  a  delightful  bit 
from  Beaujour:  "American  children  are  almost  al 
ways  prettily  shaped,  with  blond  hair,  and  with  the 
freshness  of  budding  roses,  and  they  sparkle  in 
the  streets  of  American  towns  like  field  flowers  in 
the  springtime." 


CHAPTER  IV 

WHAT  OUR  ANCESTORS  ATE  AND 

DRANK,  THEIR  CUSTOM  OF 

TOASTS,  ETC. 

WHAT  more  inspiring  rendezvous  can  we  have 
for  this  incursion  into  the  long  ago  than  the 
dinner-table  of  George  Washington,  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  American  forces.  The  engaging 
Marquis  de  Chastellux  shall  be  waiting  there  to 
greet  us,  and  take  up  the  narrative:  "On  our 
return  to  camp  we  found  a  good  dinner  ready 
waiting  and  about  twenty  guests.  The  repast 
was  in  English  fashion,  composed  of  eight  or  ten 
large  dishes  both  of  butchers'  meat  and  chicken, 
accompanied  by  vegetables  of  different  sorts,  and 
followed  by  a  second  course  of  pastries,  com 
prising  everything  under  the  two  denominations 
of  'pyes  and  powding'  [sic].  After  these  two 
courses  they  removed  the  tablecloth  and  served 
apples  and  a  quantity  of  nuts,  which  George 
Washington  generally  ate  for  two  hours,  mean 
while  proposing  toasts  and  indulging  in  conver 
sation.  These  nuts  are  small,  dry,  and  covered 
with  so  hard  a  shell  that  only  a  hammer  can 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

break  them;  they  are  served  half  open,  and  are 
then  picked  out  and  eaten.  About  half  past 
seven  we  arose  from  the  table,  and  the  servants 
at  once  came  to  take  it  down  and  shorten  it,  as 
it  had  been  lengthened  for  dinner.  I  was  aston 
ished  at  this  manoeuvre  and  asked  the  reason. 
They  told  me  they  were  going  to  lay  the  cloth 
for  supper.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  I  retired 
to  my  room,  thinking  that  the  General  might 
have  something  to  do  and  was  only  remaining 
with  the  company  out  of  regard  for  me,  but  half 
an  hour  later  they  came  to  announce  that  His 
Excellency  awaited  me  for  supper.  I  returned 
to  the  dining  room  protesting  with  all  my  might 
against  this  supper,  but  the  General  said  that  he 
was  accustomed  to  take  something  in  the  eve 
ning,  and  that  I  need  only  sit  down,  eat  some  fruit 
and  take  part  in  the  conversation."  This  long 
stay  at  table  had  a  convincing  apologist  in  the 
Comte  de  Segur:  "Temperance  was  one  of 
Washington's  virtues,  and  in  prolonging  his 
dinner  he  had  but  one  object, — that  pleasure 
of  conversation  which  distracted  him  from  his 
worries  and  rested  him  from  his  labors.  His 
table  was  set  every  day  for  thirty.  Washington, 
animated  by  a  singular  and  most  disinterested 
love  for  his  country,  declined  to  receive  that 
which  they  had  assigned  him  as  Commander-in- 
Chief.  It  was  almost  in  spite  of  him  that  the 

[75] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

government  charged  itself  with  paying  his  table 
expenses."  When  Blanchard  dined  with  Wash 
ington,  he  especially  noticed  that  meat  and 
vegetables  were  served  together  on  the  same 
platter,  and  that  the  salad  dressing  was  of  vinegar 
without  any  oil.  Lieutenant-General  Mathieu 
Dumas  was  another  who  partook  of  one  of  Wash 
ington's  dinners,  "which  was  remarkably  plain," 
says  he.  From  these  as  well  as  from  many  other 
accounts  of  Washington's  hospitality  (for  he  en 
tertained  all  the  French  officers,  and  each  one 
seems  to  have  written  down  his  experience),  it 
becomes  quite  clear  that,  as  head  of  the  revolu 
tionary  movement  he  felt  that  his  was  the  re 
sponsibility  of  showing  official  hospitality  to  the 
gallant  foreigners  who  had  come  so  far  to  fight 
for  us.  Nor  did  he  fail  to  perform  this  duty, 
and  that  too,  in  accordance  with  the  best  Ameri 
can  culinary  traditions.  He  offered  at  his  table 
American  viands  cooked  and  served  in  the  Ameri 
can  manner,  and  what  he  and  his  guests  from 
the  brilliant  French  court  ate  and  drank  best 
tells  how  people  at  that  time  cared  for  the  inner 
man — plenty  of  hearty,  simple  food,  washed  down 
by  quantities  of  alcoholic  beverages  strangely  in 
consistent  with  the  more  temperate  tendencies  of 
to-day. 

That  Washington's  hospitality  to  our  foreign 
guests   was   not   confined   to   entertaining   them 

[76] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

while  they  were  serving  our  country  but  also 
followed  them  home  across  the  ocean  appears 
from  a  letter  written  him  from  Paris,  October  26, 
1786,  by  Lafayette:  "I  have  received  the  hams 
and  I  am  much  indebted  for  this  amiable  atten 
tion  on  the  part  of  Madame  Washington.  The 
first  one  was  served  three  days  ago  at  a  dinner 
composed  of  Americans,  to  which  our  friend 
Chastellux  was  invited.  They  arrived  in  per 
fect  condition."  Of  how  favorably  Washington's 
hospitality  impressed  the  French  officers  there 
are  not  a  few  accounts,  but  only  a  couple  of  them 
enjoyed  a  similar  attention  from  Mrs.  Washing 
ton — one  was  Blanchard,  who  stopped  to  pay  his 
respects  at  Mount  Vernon  on  his  way  north 
from  Yorktown.  He  has  many  amiable  things 
to  say  of  the  general's  wife.  In  passing  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  although  he  speaks  of 
Annapolis  and  Georgetown,  there  was  as  yet  no 
city  of  Washington  for  him  to  visit.  It  is  im 
possible  now  to  think  of  Georgetown  otherwise 
than  as  an  outlying  section  of  Washington,  but 
this  is  only  one  of  the  many  startling  differences 
between  then  and  now  in  our  country.  Our  as 
similative  power  as  a  nation  makes  short  work 
of  such  sudden  changes,  nor  does  it  show  any 
tendency  to  diminish  now  that  we  are  a  world- 
power,  and  are  commencing  to  confront  greater 
problems  than  those  around  the  village  pump. 

[77] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

From  what  we  know  of  the  excessive  daily 
consumption  of  intoxicants  in  America  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  seems  strange 
that  there  were  so  few  adverse  comments  from 
our  more  temperate  Latin  friends  upon  their 
thirsty  Anglo-Saxon  associates.  "  My  health  con 
tinues  excellent,"  wrote  Comte  de  Segur  to  his 
wife,  "despite  the  quantity  of  tea  one  must 
drink  with  the  ladies  out  of  gallantry,  and  of 
madeira  all  day  long  with  the  men  out  of  polite 
ness."  How  unusual  was  water  as  a  beverage  is 
amusingly  set  out  by  Mazzei:  "They  consider 
port  wine  and  bordeaux  as  light,  and  water  is 
banished  from  every  table.  A  man  who  arrived  a 
little  while  ago  asked  me  one  day  at  table  how 
much  water  cost.  When  I  told  him  that  all  it  cost 
was  the  trouble  to  fetch  it,  he  added  that  he  had 
thought  it  a  most  expensive  beverage  because  he 
had  not  been  able  to  obtain  a  glass  of  it  without 
the  greatest  difficulty,  whilst  those  who  ordered 
wine,  cider,  beer,  grog  or  toddy  were  served  at  once. 
They  call  a  mixture  of  rum  and  water  grog,  but 
when  sugar  is  put  in  it  is  called  toddy.  In  1774, 
finding  myself  one  day  at  Norfolk  at  a  dinner  of 
thirty-two  people,  and  having  asked  for  a  glass  of 
water,  I  perceived  some  confusion  among  the  ser 
vants,  and  the  water  did  not  arrive.  The  host,  next 
whom  I  sat,  whispered  in  my  ear,  asking  with  a 
smile  if  I  could  not  drink  something  else,  because 

[78] 


Conitc  de  Segur. 

From  a  portrait  appearing  in  hi.s  volume  of  "Memo 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

the  unexpected  request  for  a  glass  of  water  had  up 
set  the  entire  household  and  they  did  not  know 
what  they  were  about."  That  every  ramification 
of  human  thirst  received  due  attention  appears 
from  the  following  catalogue  of  beverages — "both 
hot  punch  and  cold  before  dinner,  madeira  or 
Spanish  wine,  bordeaux  in  the  summer — spruce 
beer  and  excellent  cider  are  served  before  the 
wine;  formerly  English  porter  appeared  there 
exclusively,  but  it  is  now  replaced  by  excellent 
porter  made  near  Philadelphia,  which  so  much 
resembles  the  English  that  even  English  palates 
have  been  deceived  by  it.  This  discovery  is  a 
real  service  to  America,  for  by  it  they  are  re 
lieved  of  a  tax  to  English  industry."  Revel 
took  kindly  to  our  spruce  beer,  and  adds:  "They 
likewise  have  a  liquor  which  sells  at  a  high  price, 
and  is  made  of  peaches,  of  which  they  have  a 
great  quantity,  although  generally  bad,  as  are 
also  their  apples  and  other  fruits."  Mandrillon 
tells  us  that  "the  ordinary  drink  of  the  inhabi 
tants  is  cider  whose  excellence  equals  the  best 
white  wine.  They  import  rum  from  the  Bar- 
badoes.  Madeira  and  England  furnish  them 
with  wines."  St.  Mery  agrees  that  cider  was  our 
usual  beverage.  None  of  the  French  spoke  ap 
provingly  of  our  whiskey,  in  fact  they  seemed  to 
dislike  it,  and  Perrin  du  Lac  thought  it  had  "the 
most  disagreeable  taste  of  anything  I  ever  drank 

[79] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

in  my  life.  Most  of  the  people  partake  of  this 
strong  liquor,  which  they  distill  from  rye  and 
corn.  The  drunkenness  resulting  from  it  is  dis 
gusting,  and  its  use,  no  matter  how  moderate, 
seems  to  me  strongly  to  affect  nervous  persons." 
To  all  of  the  foregoing  the  only  rebutting  testi 
mony  is  the  casual  statement  of  St.  Mery  that 
Philadelphians  drank  iced  water  in  summer  and 
made  excessive  use  of  hot  drinks  at  other  seasons. 
Constant  are  the  flattering  remarks  upon  how 
well  our  people  lived — we  shall  come  to  these  in 
detail  while  considering  the  various  meals  then 
customary.  Nor  was  this  comfortable  and  race- 
bettering  scale  of  living  confined  to  the  wealthier 
classes — fortunately  it  obtained  in  every  walk  of 
life,  for,  says  Beaujour:  "It  must  be  remarked 
that  the  poorest  individual,  the  ordinary  day- 
laborer,  is  better  fed  and  clad  here  than  in  any 
other  country.  Every  day  of  their  lives  they 
eat  more  in  the  United  States  than  in  France, 
and  that  too  of  expensive  things,  and  those  which 
elsewhere  are  considered  luxuries.  They  cal 
culate  (based  on  the  receipts  of  the  Custom 
House)  that  each  man  consumes  annually  ten 
pounds  of  sugar,  two  and  a  half  of  coffee,  one  of 
tea  and  about  fifteen  of  molasses."  Our  citizens 
were  so  accustomed  to  a  varied  diet  and  to  sub 
stantial  food  that  Gerard,  the  French  Minister, 
reports  to  his  government,  September  10,  1778, 

[8ol 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

that  for  this  reason  (and  also  because  of  the  rise 
in  cost  of  provisions)  "in  general  it  appears,  on 
trustworthy  testimony,  that  a  European  army 
of  60,000  men  would  be  well  kept  on  what  15,000 
men  cost  in  the  United  States." 

Although  the  Frenchmen  understood  and  ap 
proved  the  hour  and  the  importance  of  our 
dinners,  they  were  surprised,  and  in  some  cases 
obviously  shocked  by  our  hearty  breakfasts. 
Says  Chastellux  of  Philadelphia:  "The  Ameri 
can  days  begin  with  a  heavy  breakfast,  and  as 
they  dine  late  some  slices  of  veal  in  the  morn 
ing,  some  cuts  of  mutton  and  other  trifles  of  this 
sort  sandwiched  in  between  cups  of  tea  and 
coffee,  never  failed  of  a  good  reception.  This 
light  repast  lasted  no  more  than  an  hour  and 
a  half."  This  hearty  American  breakfast  was 
hardly  to  the  liking  of  the  French,  and  among 
those  who  criticise  it  is  St.  Mery,  who  says  that 
"in  Philadelphia  the  breakfasts  are  at  nine 
o'clock.  They  have  ham,  slices  of  bread  and 
butter,  tea  and  coffee."  Brissot  complains  that 
in  Boston  "breakfast  consisted  of  tea,  coffee  and 
meats,  both  broiled  and  roasted." 

Not  a  few  references  were  made  to  the  phe 
nomenon  of  coffee  with  milk  in  it  being  drunk  at 
breakfast — amazing  to  the  Frenchmen.  ' '  Our  sup 
per  was  frugal  enough,"  says  Chastellux,  "but 
breakfast  the  next  day  was  ample;  we  had  ham, 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

butter  and  fresh  eggs,  and  coffee  with  milk  in  it  as 
a  drink.  We  had  become  perfectly  accustomed  to 
the  American  habit  of  using  coffee  with  milk  in  it 
as  a  beverage  while  eating  meat,  vegetables  and 
other  food."  He  agrees  with  St.  Mery  that  nine 
o'clock  was  the  correct  hour  for  breakfast  in 
America.  Perrin  du  Lac  noticed  that  "no  one 
takes  coffee  after  meals,  but  almost  all  the  men 
drink  it  during  breakfast,"  and  Roux  remarked  our 
"immoderate  use  of  tea  and  coffee  at  all  repasts." 
When  the  French  came  to  speak  of  our  dinner, 
the  principal  meal  of  the  day,  they  treated  the 
subject  with  the  deference  and  earnest  attention 
which  men  of  their  nation  have  always  felt  it 
deserved.  The  general  hour  would  seem  to  have 
been  two  o'clock — so  says  du  Bourg  of  Boston, 
and  St.  Mery  of  Philadelphia,  although  with  the 
latter  Chastellux  disagrees:  "In  Philadelphia,  as 
in  London,  one  does  not  dine  until  five  o'clock 
and  sometimes  not  until  six."  Perhaps  the  fact 
that  Chastellux' s  Philadelphia  friends  were  more 
fashionable  folk  than  St.  Mery's  may  explain  the 
difference,  although  it  must  be  noted  that  the 
former  gives  two  as  the  hour  at  General  Nelson's 
home.  Savarin  dined  at  three  in  New  York. 
No  disagreement,  however,  existed  as  to  the 
great  length  of  time  spent  at  table — Lafayette 
writes  to  his  wife  from  Charleston,  June  19,  1777, 
that  he  sat  five  hours  at  a  great  dinner  given  in 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

his  honor.    Du  Bourg  would  have  us  believe  that 
"most  of  the  time  is  consecrated  to  the  table." 

But  let  us  hear  what  they  ate.  We  have  already 
seen  what  was  served  at  Washington's  table,  but 
to  learn  the  fare  of  ordinary  folk  we  will  turn  first 
to  St.  Mery:  "Dinner  in  Philadelphia  is  at  two, 
no  soup,  but  roast  beef  and  potatoes,  boiled  or  fried 
cuts,  boiled  or  fried  fish,  salad,  which  is  sometimes 
sliced  cabbage  [he  means  cold  slaw].  For  dessert 
they  serve  fruit,  cheese  and  pudding.  The  women 
leave  the  table  after  dinner.  All  the  family  silver  is 
always  set  out  on  the  sideboard."  Another  Phila 
delphia  menu  is  given  us  by  Chastellux:  "The 
dinner  was  served  in  the  American  (or,  if  you 
please,  in  the  English)  style,  that  is  to  say,  it 
was  composed  of  two  courses,  one  comprising  the 
entree,  roasts,  hot  dishes,  and  the  other,  sweet 
pastries,  etc.  When  these  are  taken  away  the 
tablecloth  is  removed  and  they  serve  apples, 
chestnuts  and  other  nuts.  It  is  then  that  they 
propose  healths.  Coffee,  which  comes  afterwards, 
serves  as  the  signal  for  leaving  the  table."  This 
same  author  thought  as  well  of  Boston  dinners 
as  of  Philadelphia  ones,  for,  dining  one  night  at 
Mr.  Cushing's  in  the  former  city,  he  says:  "On 
this  occasion  the  Deputy  Governor  perfectly  sus 
tained  the  reputation  to  which  the  Bostonians 
have  every  right,  that  of  loving  good  wine  and 
good  food,  and  of  being  very  hospitable."  As  to 

[83] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  length  of  these  Boston  dinners  he  gives  a 
hint  when  he  remarks  of  one  at  Mr.  Brick's: 
"There  were  thirty  persons  present.  After  dinner 
they  served  tea,  and  while  it  was  being  taken 
Mr.  Brick  insisted  that  we  remain  to  supper." 

This  same  bon  viveur  heartily  approved  of  the 
custom  American  women  had  of  withdrawing 
after  dinner,  as  appeared  from  his  account  of  a 
visit  to  a  Mr.  Wilson:  "He  gave  us  a  very  good 
dinner,  and  received  us  with  simple  and  easy 
politeness.  Mrs.  Wilson  did  the  honors  of  the 
table  with  all  the  attention  possible,  but  we  par 
ticularly  appreciated  her  leaving  at  dessert;  then 
the  dinner  began  to  liven  up."  Brissot  describes 
a  quieter  entertainment,  this  time  at  a  Quaker's 
house,  but  there  we  also  find  plenty  of  food, 
drink,  and  good  cheer,  even  though  the  last  be 
in  a  lower  key:  "I  want  to  send  you  a  descrip 
tion  of  a  dinner  given  by  one  of  the  richest 
Quakers  during  the  General  Assembly  in  Sep 
tember, — it  affords  a  curious  contrast  to  our 
splendid  banquets.  At  that  time  the  Quakers 
from  the  country  and  neighboring  cities  crowded 
into  Philadelphia;  their  brothers  received  and 
lodged  them,  and  lavished  the  most  affectionate 
hospitality  upon  them.  About  twenty  guests  sat 
down  to  table.  The  host  was  at  one  end  and  the 
hostess  at  the  other.  Before  beginning,  there 
was  a  moment  of  silence  which  the  Quakers  em- 

[84] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ployed  to  give  thanks  to  the  Supreme  Being. 
The  first  course  consisted  of  a  large  piece  of  beef 
placed  at  one  end,  a  ham  in  the  middle,  and  a 
shoulder  of  mutton  at  the  other,  two  soups,  and 
four  platters  of  potatoes,  cabbage,  vegetables 
etc.  They  drank  cider,  Philadelphia  porter,  and 
beer.  The  host,  addressing  each  guest  in  turn, 
said  'Help  yourself,  ask  for  what  you  want,  and 
make  yourself  entirely  at  home.'  The  second 
course  consisted  of  different  sorts  of  pies  or  pas 
tries,  two  plates  of  cream,  two  of  cheese  and  two 
of  butter.  The  servant  then  came  to  pour  out 
a  glass  of  wine  for  each  guest,  but  I  saw  none  of 
that  tiresome  offering  of  toasts  which  is  so  often 
a  provocation  to  drunkenness  rather  than  to 
patriotism.  They  talked  quietly,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  this  simple  repast  did  not  en 
joy  the  gaiety  of  our  noisy  dinners  or  suppers." 
The  tone  of  regret  with  which  even  so  sedate 
a  soul  as  Brissot  reminiscently  refers  to  the 
"gaiety  of  our  [French]  noisy  dinners  and  sup 
pers"  turns  our  thoughts  to  the  somewhat  de 
liberate  merry-making  which  reigned  after  an 
American  dinner,  as  soon  as  the  hour  devoted  to 
toasts  arrived.  Bayard  says:  "The  husbands 
remain  at  table  long  after  the  ladies  withdraw, 
and  this  custom  is  alike  in  country  and  city." 
And  St.  Mery  agreed  that  "women  always  sit 
down  first  at  meals,  but  always  depart  the  mo- 

[85] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ment  the  men  announce  they  prefer  Bacchus  to 
Venus."  In  this  connection  Mazzei  proved  a 
gallant  champion  of  the  ladies  by  recording  that 
"if  the  men  remain  at  table  too  long  in  order 
to  drink  more  than  they  should,  the  women  are 
accustomed  to  withdraw;  1.  Because  they  are 
not  interested  in  excessive  drinking;  2.  Because 
they  have  something  else  to  do.  The  women 
conduct  all  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  house,  and 
generally  with  much  care;  all  the  keys  are  turned 
over  to  them  and  they  take  care  of  everything." 
It  is  but  fair  to  point  out  with  Segur,  that  these 
long  sojourns  at  table  were  necessitated  by  the 
elaborate  system  of  toasts  then  in  vogue:  "Din 
ner,  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Eng 
lish  and  Americans,  lasted  several  hours,  concluded 
by  a  number  of  toasts.  The  more  customary 
were  those  to  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States,  the  King  and  Queen  of  France,  and  to 
the  success  of  the  Allied  Armies,  after  which 
came  private  toasts,  or,  as  they  are  called  in 
America,  sentimental  toasts."  That  he  did  not 
approve  of  the  custom  is  clear:  "Two  things, 
only,  shocked  me  more  than  I  can  say,  one  was 
the  custom,  when  the  time  came  for  toasts,  to 
pass  around  the  table  a  great  bowl  of  punch 
from  which  each  guest  was  obliged  in  turn  to 
drink."  Savarin  was  much  impressed  by  the 
size  of  one  of  these  punch-bowls  in  New  York, 

[86] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

"holding  enough  for  forty  people — there  are  no 
such  huge  bowls  in  all  France." 

Chastellux  approves  the  patriotic  toasts,  but 
does  not  hesitate  to  speak  his  mind  freely  concern 
ing  the  tiresome  exchange  of  "individual  healths," 
"The  formal  toasts,  as  I  have  said  already,  are  not 
at  all  annoying,  and  only  serve  to  prolong  conver 
sation,  which  is  always  more  animated  at  the  close 
of  the  repast.  They  do  not  require  one  to  go  to 
excess,  in  which  they  differ  greatly  from  German 
healths  and  those  still  obtaining  in  our  garrisons 
and  in  the  country.  But  one  absurd  and  really 
barbarous  custom  is  that  at  the  beginning  of  a 
repast  and  the  first  time  that  one  drinks,  they 
call  upon  each  individual  in  turn  to  drink  his 
health.  It  is  enough  to  make  the  actor  of  this 
ridiculous  comedy  die  of  thirst  while  trying  to 
remember  the  names  of  all  around  a  table  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  persons.  It  is  also  enough 
to  make  the  unfortunate  whom  he  addresses  die 
of  impatience  because  he  cannot  give  proper  at 
tention  to  what  he  is  eating  and  what  they  are 
saying  to  him,  being  incessantly  called  at  from 
right  to  left  by  cruelly  charitable  men  anxious 
that  he  shall  notice  the  compliment  he  is  receiv 
ing.  The  best  bred  Americans  do  not  approve 
of  this  general  appeal,  and  whenever  they  drink 
individual  healths  they  do  it  by  groups,  four  or 
five  together.  Another  custom  is  the  despair  of 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

strangers — those  general  and  private  attacks 
finishing  by  regular  duels,  someone  calling  out 
to  you  from  the  other  end  of  the  table,  '  Monsieur, 
will  you  permit  me  to  drink  a  glass  of  wine  with 
you?'  This  proposition  is  always  accepted,  and 
when  the  bottle  is  passed  you  must  face  your 
enemy  (for  how  else  shall  I  call  a  man  who  exer 
cises  such  empire  over  my  wishes !)  wait  until  he 
has  poured  out  his  wine  and  has  taken  his  glass, 
and  then  drink  stiffly  with  him,  like  a  recruit 
imitating  the  gestures  of  his  drill  sergeant.  How 
ever,  I  must  do  this  justice  to  Americans,  that 
they  themselves  feel  the  absurdity  of  these  usages 
drawn  from  Old  England." 

It  is  from  this  same  Chastellux  that  we  have  a 
pleasant  picture  of  an  evening  spent  at  the  board  of 
General  Washington — a  picture  showing  how  care 
fully  he  ordered  his  toasts :  "  The  tablecloth  having 
been  removed,  some  good  bottles  of  bordeaux 
and  madeira  were  placed  on  the  table.  Every 
man  of  sense  will  no  doubt  conclude  that  being 
a  French  general  under  the  orders  of  General 
Washington,  and  likewise  a  good  Whig,  I  could 
not  refuse  a  glass  of  wine  when  he  offered  it;  I 
will  admit  that  I  deserve  little  credit  for  com 
plying,  and  that,  though  less  accustomed  to 
drinking  than  any  of  the  others,  I  accommodated 
myself  quite  well  to  the  English  toast.  The 
glasses  were  very  small,  and  each  poured  out  the 

[881 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

quantity  of  wine  he  wished,  without  anyone 
pressing  him  to  take  more.  The  toast  is  nothing 
but  a  halt  in  the  conversation  to  show  that  each 
individual  performs  a  part  in  making  up  the 
company.  I  observed  that  at  dinner  the  toasts 
are  attended  with  more  solemnity, — there  are 
several  formal  ones,  and  others  were  suggested 
by  the  General  and  announced  by  the  Aide  de 
Camp,  who  was  doing  the  honors.  Each  day  one 
of  them  is  stationed  at  the  end  of  the  table  near 
the  General  to  oversee  the  service  of  the  dishes 
and  the  distribution  of  bottles.  In  the  evening, 
toasts  were  announced  by  Colonel  Hamilton, 
and  he  gave  them  out  as  they  came  to  him  with 
out  order  or  formality.  At  the  end  of  supper 
the  guests  were  generally  requested  to  propose  a 
sentiment,  that  is  to  say,  a  lady  to  whom  they 
were  attached  by  love,  friendship,  or  mere  prefer 
ence;  this  supper  and  conversation  lasted  gen 
erally  from  nine  o'clock  until  eleven  in  the  eve 
ning,  always  informal  and  always  agreeable." 

Noticing  the  importance  we  attributed  to  our 
selection  of  toasts,  the  French  took  pains  to 
learn  if  it  was  their  king,  or  the  English  one 
who  was  being  accorded  this  honor  and,  accord 
ing  to  Mazzei,  were  much  pleased  by  the  result 
of  their  inquiries:  "In  America  they  have  always 
practised  the  English  custom  of  drinking  to  the 
health  of  the  Sovereign  after  the  meal.  Before 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  Revolution  the  first  health  was  always  for 
George  III.  'The  Nation'  has  taken  his  place, 
and  immediately  thereafter  comes  Louis  XVI. 
I  had  the  curiosity  to  ask  the  citizens  of  several 
different  States  if,  since  peace  was  declared  there 
were  places  where  they  still  drank  to  the  health 
of  George  III.  They  all  assured  me  that  they 
had  never  heard  of  it  either  in  public  or  private 
houses,  but  that  everywhere  they  had  seen  the 
health  of  Louis  XVI  drunk."  Blanchard  even 
overheard  the  negro  servants,  after  a  dinner, 
drinking  the  health  of  the  French  King. 

Minister  Adet,  writing  home  to  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety,  July  17, 1795,  officially  recognized 
the  political  significance  of  the  toasts  then  being 
generally  selected,  as  indicative  of  the  trend  of 
public  opinion:  "It  is  enough  to  read  the  series 
of  toasts  proposed  in  those  two  cities  (Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia)  to  judge  of  the  impression 
made  on  public  opinion  by  the  treaty."  The 
following  year  (September  24,  1796)  he  sent  his 
government  a  list  of  the  toasts  at  a  dinner  given 
him,  as  showing  the  state  of  the  public  mind. 
Dupetit-Thouars  was  the  only  other  Frenchman 
thoughtful  enough  to  preserve  for  our  delecta 
tion  a  complete  list  of  toasts  drunk  on  a  certain 
occasion:  "His  Christian  Majesty  and  his  better 
half,  the  Queen  of  France,  the  King  of  Spain, 
General  Washington,  His  Excellency  the  Count 

too] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

d'Estaing,  His  Excellency  the  Count  d'Orvilliers, 
the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  Dr.  Franklin,  Presi 
dent  Adams,  President  Hamcock  [sic],  General 
Lee,  General  Gates,  Governor  Jefferson,  Her 
Excellency  Mrs.  Washington,  and  at  least  a  half 
dozen  more  to  absent  ladies  and  gentlemen — 21 
in  all."  Doubtless  few  if  any  of  our  readers 
would  welcome  a  return  to  this  elaborate  system 
of  alcoholic  deluge  after  our  repasts,  but  before 
becoming  too  critical  of  our  ancestors,  should  we 
not  consider  if  its  denatured  successor  of  to-day, 
after-dinner  oratory,  is  not  even  more  calculated 
to  drive  one  to  drink  than  the  toasts  of  our  early 
society?  How  large  a  part  sentiment  played  in 
building  up  that  ancient  custom  may  be  seen 
from  a  little  picture  left  us  by  the  Marquis  de 
la  Tour  du  Pin:  "When  breakfast  (of  which  we 
partook  in  common)  was  over,  he  rose,  removed 
his  hat,  and  said  in  a  manner  full  of  respect  'we 
will  drink  to  our  beloved  President.'  There  was 
no  cabin  to  be  found,  even  deep  in  the  wilder 
ness,  where  this  loving  act  for  the  great  Wash 
ington  did  not  conclude  the  repast.  Sometimes 
they  added  the  health  of  'the  Marquis,'  for  La 
Fayette  left  a  cherished  name  in  the  United 
States." 

Over  against  this  wide-spread  use  of  intoxicants 
it  is  but  fair  as  well  as  chastening  to  set  out  the 
prevalence  among  our  people  of  the  tea  habit, 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

for  tea  was  then  not  only  a  beverage,  but  had 
also  become  an  established  social  episode,  with 
an  hour  set  apart  to  it,  and  an  elaborate  and  per 
fectly  recognized  code  of  rules.  Although  the 
use  of  tea  was  not  confined  to  what  is  now  in 
England  the  sacrosanct  "tea  hour,"  that  be 
nignant  custom  was  already  firmly  established 
among  us.  Nor  was  it  limited  in  duration  to 
one  hour,  for  Balch  says:  "About  five  o'clock  they 
take  more  tea,  some  wine,  some  madeira,  some 
punch,  and  this  ceremony  lasts  until  ten  o'clock." 
St.  Mery  observes:  "They  drink  much  tea, 
sometimes  with  rum  in  it."  Bayard  confirms 
the  statement  that  the  usual  hour  for  tea-parties 
was  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  sets  out  very 
amusingly  the  formal  etiquette  which  attended 
those  functions:  "I  will  give  the  reader  an  idea 
of  the  pleasures  of  the  city  of  Bath.  At  five 
o'clock  all  betake  themselves  to  tea-parties, 
where  everything  is  conducted  with  the  greatest 
ceremony.  On  the  right  of  the  mistress  of  the 
house  are  ranged  in  a  half  circle  all  the  women, 
as  well  attired  as  possible.  A  profound  silence 
follows  the  arrival  of  each  guest,  and  all  the 
ladies  maintain  the  gravity  of  judges  sitting  on 
the  bench.  A  mahogany  table  is  brought  and 
placed  in  front  of  the  dispenser  of  tea.  Silver 
vessels  contain  coffee,  and  hot  water  which 
weakens  the  tea  or  serves  to  clean  the  cups.  A 

[92] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

servant  brings  in  on  a  silver  tray  the  cups,  the 
sugar  bowl,  the  cream  jugs,  pats  of  butter,  and 
smoked  meat,  which  are  offered  to  each  indi 
vidual,  and  with  which  she  must  cover  her  lap. 
The  French  are  often  greatly  embarrassed  when, 
with  a  cup  and  saucer  in  one  hand,  they  are 
obliged  with  the  other  to  take  tartlets,  or  smoked 
meat  cut  in  thin  slices.  An  elderly  American, 
to  whom  this  new  style  of  serving  tea  was  in 
convenient,  after  having  taken  a  cup  in  one  hand 
and  tartlets  in  the  other,  opened  his  mouth  and 
told  the  servant  to  fill  it  for  him  with  smoked 
venison !  When  everything  is  ready  for  the 
feast  the  ladies  produce  their  handkerchiefs  and 
spread  them  out.  When  you  send  back  a  cup 
you  take  pains  to  place  the  spoon  so  as  to  indi 
cate  whether  you  want  more,  or  have  had  enough. 
A  Frenchman,  who  spoke  no  English,  and  knew 
nothing  of  this  sign  language,  was  distressed  to 
see  the  sixth  cup  arriving  for  him,  so  he  decided 
after  emptying  it  to  put  it  into  his  pocket  until 
the  replenishments  had  been  concluded."  St. 
Mery  also  testifies  (this  time  at  Philadelphia, 
whose  ladies  "do  not  excel  in  dancing,  but  they 
know  how  to  make  tea")  that  "the  hostess  con 
tinues  to  fill  up  the  teacups  unless  they  are  re 
versed,  and  the  spoon  put  on  top."  Chastellux 
speaks  to  the  same  effect:  "Monsieur  de  la 
Luzerne  took  me  to  drink  tea  at  Mrs.  Morris', 

[93] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

wife  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  His 
residence  is  simple  but  well  ordered  and  neat. 
The  doors  and  tables  are  of  superb  mahogany, 
highly  polished;  the  locks  and  andirons  delight 
fully  bright;  cups  set  out  in  a  row;  the  mistress 
of  the  house  very  nice  looking  and  very  neatly 
dressed, — all  appeared  to  me  charming.  I  drank 
some  excellent  tea  and  would  have  taken  more, 
I  think,  if  the  Ambassador  had  not  charitably 
warned  me  at  the  twelfth  cup  that  I  must  put 
my  spoon  across  my  cup,  whereupon  this  sort 
of  hot  water  torture  was  ended.  'It  is  almost 
rude,'  said  he,  'to  refuse  a  cup  of  tea  when  it  is 
offered,  but  it  would  be  indiscreet  for  the  host 
to  offer  you  more  when  the  ceremony  of  the 
teaspoon  shows  what  are  your  intentions  upon 
this  point.'  '  Dupetit-Thouars  soon  came  to 
learn  that  if  you  did  not  know  the  proper  signal 
"you  would  be  overwhelmed  with  tea  I" 

Nor  was  their  tea  signal  understood  only  in  the 
Middle  and  Northern  States,  for  Robin  found  it  in 
Connecticut  as  well.  He  also  noticed  that  "they 
take  a  great  deal  of  tea,  the  use  of  this  insipid 
beverage  is  the  only  pleasure  they  have;  there  is 
not  a  single  citizen  who  does  not  drink  it  from 
porcelain  cups.  The  greatest  mark  of  courtesy 
is  to  offer  it.  In  countries  where  men  live  on 
very  substantial  food  and  drink,  tea  may  be  use 
ful  to  the  health,  but  I  think  it  injurious  to  those 

[941 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

where  they  eat  almost  nothing  but  vegetables 
and  dairy  produce.  Perhaps  this  is  one  of  the 
causes  why,  with  a  strong  constitution  and  a 
happy  life,  they  live  a  shorter  time  than  other 
men.  They  also  blame  tea  for  the  loss  of  their 
teeth."  So  severe  is  his  indictment  of  tea-drink 
ing  that  it  is  only  fair  to  recall  in  passing  that 
Robin  thought  our  poor  bread  was  even  more 
responsible  for  the  bad  teeth  than  excessive  tea- 
drinking.  Volney  declares  that  he  has  reason  to 
believe  that  "very  hot  tea,  so  beloved  by  Ameri 
cans  of  English  descent,  contributes  to  increase 
their  susceptibility  to  colds." 

Chastellux  shows  that  Boston  is  as  fond  of  tea  as 
its  sister  cities  to  the  south,  though  they  seemed  to 
take  it  after  dinner  rather  than  as  a  separate  re 
past.  He  tells  us  that  at  Mr.  Brick's  house  "after 
dinner  they  served  tea,"  and  of  another  friend,  that 
"after  dinner  he  took  us  to  the  room  of  his  son 
and  daughter-in-law  who  wished  to  give  us  tea," 
and  when  he  dined  with  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil 
-"after  dinner  we  went  to  take  tea  with  Monsieur 
Beaudouin";  Du  Bourg  says  that,  "in  Boston 
they  take  a  great  deal  of  tea  in  the  morning," 
so  we  can  see  that  somebody  or  other  must  have 
been  busy  drinking  tea  during  every  hour  of  the 
livelong  day. 

It  seemed  also  to  be  an  important  factor  at  pic 
nics,  for  Brissot  tells  us  that  "one  of  the  principal 

[95] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

pleasures  of  the  dwellers  in  these  cities  consists  of 
parties  in  the  country  with  their  family  or  some 
friends.  Tea  is  the  basis  of  these,  especially  those 
which  take  place  after  dinner."  Of  course  so 
thorough  an  American  as  Washington  did  not  dis 
regard  this  national  beverage,  and  Chastellux  re 
cords  of  one  of  his  days  spent  at  headquarters: 
"The  dinner  was  excellent,  tea  followed  dinner,  and 
conversation  followed  tea."  This  discussion  of 
the  Chinese  herb's  wide  popularity  helps  us  to  re 
alize  how  self-denying  was  the  patriotism  dis 
played  at  the  famous  Boston  Tea-Party — they 
did  not  hesitate  to  "mortify  their  appetite"  for 
tea  in  order  to  decrease  the  revenues  of  the 
English  Government  and  merchants.  Chotteau 
recognizes  this:  "They  all  drink  tea  in  America 
as  they  drink  wine  in  the  south  of  France.  Tea 
enters  into  the  daily  bill  of  fare.  It  was  on  every 
table  but  the  Colonists  banished  it  with  enthusi 
asm,  and  dried  raspberry  leaves  were  offered  to 
delicate  palates — a  detestable  drink — which  they 
had  the  heroism  to  find  good." 

So  much  for  the  principal  repasts  of  the  day, 
and  now  we  come  to  supper,  which,  according 
to  Chastellux,  "is  not  the  important  meal  of  the 
Americans."  Balch,  to  the  same  effect  tells  us 
that  "at  ten  o'clock  they  sit  down  to  table  and 
there  is  served  a  supper  which  is  less  considerable 
than  dinner."  Chastellux  while  stopping  in  the 

[96] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

country  house  of  Mr.  John  Tracey,  near  Ports 
mouth,  New  Hampshire,  found  that:  "At  ten 
o'clock  an  excellent  supper  was  served;  we  drank 
very  good  wine.  About  midnight  the  ladies  with 
drew,  but  we  continued  to  drink  madeira  and 
sherry.  Mr.  Tracey,  following  the  custom  of 
the  country  offered  us  pipes."  One  day  in 
Boston  he  was  invited  to  Mr.  Brick's  house,  and 
"supper  was  served  exactly  four  hours  after  we 
had  risen  from  the  table.  It  can  be  easily  imag 
ined  that  we  took  practically  nothing.  Never 
theless,  the  Americans  did  very  well  at  it.  In 
general,  they  eat  less  than  we  during  a  single 
meal,  but  they  eat  as  often  as  they  wish — a  cus 
tom  which  I  consider  very  bad."  Blanchard 
also  noticed  that  although  "they  sit  down  so 
frequently  at  table,  nevertheless,  they  are  not 
heavy  eaters."  Another  pleasant  contribution 
to  our  supper  literature  is  from  Chastellux,  after 
a  day  spent  with  General  Washington:  "The 
General  said  that  he  was  accustomed  to  take 
something  in  the  evening,  and  that  if  I  would 
sit  down  I  need  only  eat  some  fruit  and  join  in 
the  conversation.  The  supper  was  composed  of 
three  or  four  light  dishes,  of  some  fruit  and  above 
all,  a  great  abundance  of  nuts  which  were  no 
worse  received  in  the  evening  than  they  had  been 
in  the  morning.  The  tablecloth  having  been 
soon  removed,  some  good  bottles  of  bordeaux 

[97] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

and  madeira  were  placed  on  the  table."  Chas- 
tellux  also  noticed  that  the  popular  pastime  of 
proposing  toasts  was  sometimes  indulged  in  after 
supper  just  as  after  dinner. 

Of  all  the  numerous  comments  made  by  the 
French  upon  American  food,  none  are  more 
significant  than  their  decided  expressions  con 
cerning  our  excessive  meat  eating,  the  poor  and 
(therefore  perhaps)  little  eaten  bread,  and  the 
fact  that  our  people  lived  well  every  day  and  all 
the  time,  regardless  of  whether  they  had  guests, 
or  whether  or  not  it  was  a  holiday.  As  to  meat, 
Mazzei  tells  us:  "At  37°  and  38°  of  latitude  they 
are  often,  during  the  summer,  more  carnivorous 
than  the  English.  They  mix  butter  with  their 
meats,  and  put  a  great  deal  in  almost  all  their 
dishes."  Brissot  found  meat  so  important  a  part 
of  our  diet  as  to  authorize  his  comment:  "In 
America  pork  and  beef  do  the  honors  of  the  table 
the  year  round."  He  adds:  "Fresh  meat  must 
be  much  dearer  in  the  country  where  the  houses 
are  more  scattered,  than  in  the  city  where  the 
everyday  needs  demand  the  regular  services  of  a 
butcher."  It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  his  use  of 
"dear"  with  another  comment  of  his:  "Break 
fast  consisted  of  tea,  coffee,  meats,  both  broiled 
and  roasted,  and  cost  ten  cents,  Massachusetts 
money,  for  each  traveller."  He  not  only  finds 
our  fresh  meat  excellent,  but  also  reports  that: 

[98] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

"One  sees  salt  beef  of  theirs  which  has  travelled 
to  Bordeaux,  to  the  East  Indies,  to  the  West 
Indies  and  after  its  return  to  Boston  is  still  as 
good  as  ever.  They  have  tried  this  salt  beef  at 
Marseilles  and  on  French  ships  elsewhere,  and  it 
is  beginning  to  be  highly  esteemed.  Being 
cheaper  than  that  of  Ireland,  it  will  no  doubt 
soon  have  the  preference."  An  illuminating 
conclusion  from  Balch  compares  our  consump 
tion  of  meat  with  that  of  bread,  both  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  customs  of  the  French:  "Dinner, 
which  is  generally  at  two  o'clock,  is  composed  of 
a  great  quantity  of  meat.  They  eat  very  little 
bread."  This  comparison  is  elaborated  by  Beau- 
jour:  "In  France  each  individual,  taken  one 
with  the  other,  children  and  adults  together, 
consumes  a  pound  of  bread  a  day  and  a  half 
pound  of  meat,  or  other  food  which  replaces  it. 
An  American  consumes  hardly  half  a  pound  of 
bread,  but  on  the  other  hand,  at  least  a  pound 
of  meat,  without  counting  in  other  substantial 
foods,  such  as  butter  and  potatoes,  which  form 
at  least  a  quarter  of  his  food."  St.  Mery  records 
that  "Americans  eat  as  much  meat  as  the  English, 
and  more  meat  than  bread.  They  eat  seven  or 
eight  times  as  much  meat  as  bread." 

Du  Bourg  noticed  that  in  Boston  "they  ate  very 
little  bread."  Chastellux  says  that :  "  At  Bullion's 
Tavern,  Baskenridge,  New  Jersey,  the  supper 

[99] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

was  so  good  that  one  thing  alone  was  lacking, 
and  that  was  bread.  They  asked  us  which  sort 
we  wished,  and  at  the  end  of  an  hour  they  gave 
us  what  we  asked  for.  In  America  they  often 
substitute  for  bread  little  biscuits  that  are  easily 
made  and  cooked  in  half  an  hour."  Our  bread 
was  one  of  the  few  American  products  of  which 
the  French  consistently  vouchsafe  no  word  of 
praise — for  them  it  was  always  bad.  Even  so 
experienced  a  campaigner  as  Blanchard  could 
eat  it  only  after  it  had  been  toasted !  While 
travelling  in  Maryland  du  Bourg  reports:  "Their 
only  grain  is  Indian  corn,  which  accounts  for 
their  eating  only  that  kind  of  bread — the  mean 
est  and  worst  in  the  world."  Fersen  noticed 
that  "in  Virginia  the  people  eat  nothing  but  a 
cake  made  of  Indian  corn  flour,  which  they  bake 
before  the  fire;  that  hardens  the  outside  a  little, 
but  the  inside  is  only  uncooked  dough."  Revel, 
recounting  his  experience  at  Yorktown,  brings 
perhaps  the  most  serious  charge  against  our 
shortcomings  as  bakers:  "This  part  of  Virginia 
appears  in  general  to  be  unhealthy;  all  the  in 
habitants  that  we  have  seen  around  our  camp 
had  thin,  pale  faces.  It  is  possible  that  their 
food  is  partly  to  blame,  for  they  not  only  eat 
no  bread,  but  there  are  some  of  them  who  never 
even  heard  of  it.  They  make  a  sort  of  biscuit 
on  the  hot  cinders  with  corn  meal,  which  they 
[100] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

cultivate  in  great  quantities.  They  consume  a 
large  amount  of  dairy  products  and  potatoes, 
which  are  excellent.  They  prefer  them  to  bread." 
Robin  joins  in  this  general  attack  on  our  bakers 
by  alleging  that  "the  women,  generally  very 
pretty,  are  often  deprived  of  these  precious  orna 
ments  (teeth)  at  eighteen  or  twenty  years  of 
age,"  and  adds,  "I  presume  this  to  be  the  effect 
of  hot  bread.  The  English,  Flemish  and  Dutch 
preserve  their  teeth  a  very  long  time.  The  in 
habitants  of  Connecticut,  who  have  such  fine 
wheat,  nevertheless  do  not  know  the  precious  art 
of  making  it  more  digestible  by  kneading  and 
fermentation.  Whenever  it  is  required  they 
make  a  cake  which  they  put  to  half-cook  on  an 
iron  plate;  the  French  who  went  to  the  war  in 
America  could  not  become  accustomed  to  it, 
and  taught  them  to  improve  on  it  a  little.  It  is 
to  be  found  passable  in  the  inns,  but  still  very 
inferior  to  that  of  our  Army." 

American  bread  was  not  the  only  thing  to  bene 
fit  by  coming  into  comparison  with  French  culi 
nary  standards,  for  they  also  introduced  a  number 
of  gastronomic  combinations  unknown  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean.  Savarin  notices  that  those  of  his 
fellow  emigres  "who  possessed  any  talent  for  the 
alimentary  art  draw  precious  support  therefrom." 
"  On  reaching  Boston  I  taught  Julien  the  caterer  to 
broil  eggs  with  cheese.  This  dish,  new  to  Amer- 
fioil 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

leans,  became  quite  the  rage."  "Captain  Collet 
also  made  lots  of  money  in  New  York  in  1794  and 
1795  by  preparing  ices  and  sorbets  for  the  inhabi 
tants  of  that  commercial  city.  The  women,  es 
pecially,  never  tired  of  so  novel  a  delight — nothing 
could  be  more  amusing  than  their  little  grimaces 
while  partaking  thereof.  They  were  at  a  loss  to 
understand  how  it  could  be  kept  so  cold  when  the 
Reaumur  thermometer  registered  26  degrees." 

The  French  did  not  fail  to  recognize  the  im 
portance  so  widely  accorded  "in  our  midst"  to 
pie,  which  they  generally  rendered  "pye,"  al 
though  Volney  writes  approvingly  of  "paie  (pye) 
de  pumkine!"  It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that 
our  maple  sugar,  and  especially  the  extraction  of 
the  maple  sap  from  the  trees,  excited  the  liveliest 
interest,  and  not  a  few  regrets  are  expressed  that 
we  did  not  export  that  dainty  to  France.  One 
would  infer  that  the  Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld 
was  possessed  of  an  exceptionally  sweet  tooth,  so 
full  of  detail  is  his  description  of  the  preparation 
of  maple  sugar. 

Almost  no  mention  is  made  of  the  eating  of 
fish,  although  they  were  quick  to  notice  our  liking 
for  oysters.  St.  Mery  tells  us  "Americans  are 
crazy  about  oysters,  which  they  eat  at  all  hours, 
and  even  in  the  streets.  They  hawk  them  about 
the  streets  with  lamentable  cries  until  10  p.  M." 
Mandrillon  reports  that  the  oyster  trade  of  New 

[  102  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

York  City  employed  two  hundred  boats.  Bour 
geois  says:  "The  inhabitants  of  New  Rochelle 
(N.  Y.)  live  off  a  sea  shellfish  called  lobster,  and 
also  black  fish,  the  only  fish  caught  there." 

Turtles  pleased  our  visitors  greatly,  so  much  so 
that,  according  to  Chotteau,  the  French  officers 
"in  Philadelphia  ate  excellent  turtles,  and  there 
fore  at  table,  thanks  to  the  numerous  toasts,  time 
passed  quickly."  While  at  Providence  Blanchard 
relates.  "That  same  day  I  was  invited  to  a  party 
in  the  country — a  sort  of  pique-nique  [sic]  given 
by  about  twenty  men  and  a  group  of  ladies. 
The  purpose  of  this  outing  was  to  partake  of  a 
turtle  weighing  some  three  or  four  hundred 
pounds  brought  by  an  American  ship  from  our 
islands.  The  meat  did  not  strike  me  as  very 
pleasing,  but  then  it  was  not  well  prepared." 
Savarin,  while  in  New  York,  frequented  "Little's 
Tavern,  where  turtle  soup  was  to  be  had  during 
the  morning,  and  in  the  evening  the  refreshments 
usual  in  the  United  States."  This  would  indi 
cate  a  different  division  of  the  day  gastronomi- 
cally  from  the  one  now  in  vogue. 

Captain  Bossu  was  so  pleased  with  the  flavor  of 
our  wild  ducks  as  to  compare  it  favorably  with 
that  of  some  Rouen  domestic  ducks  of  which  he 
had  partaken  on  his  way  to  America.  He  proved 
his  right  to  discuss  this  toothsome  subject  by  point 
ing  out  that  wild  ducks  were  best  during  the  season 
[io3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

they  fed  on  wild  rice,  and  therefore  he  urged  that 
swamps  in  France  be  planted  therewith. 

The  number  of  vegetables  in  common  use  was 
restricted — tomatoes  were  not  considered  healthy, 
and  Chastellux  says  we  grew  artichokes,  but  did 
not  eat  them.  Dupetit-Thouars,  on  the  other 
hand,  when  complaining  of  the  scarcity  of  bread, 
says  that  it  is  replaced  by  vegetables.  Brissot 
makes  the  amusing  statement  that  "the  Ameri 
cans  of  the  Northern  States  do  not  like  onions, 
and  only  cultivate  them  to  sell  to  the  Americans 
of  the  Southern  States."  Michaux  (junior)  wit 
nessed  a  confirmation  of  this:  "Charleston  harbor 
is  always  full  of  small  vessels  from  Boston,  New 
port,  New  Yorck  and  Philadelphia,  loaded  with 
potatoes,  onions,  carrots,  beets,  apples,  oats,  corn, 
and  hay."  In  Brissot's  description  of  Wethers- 
field,  Connecticut,  we  read  that  it  "is  remark 
able  for  its  immense  fields  entirely  filled  with 
onions,  of  which  they  export  a  prodigious  quan 
tity  to  the  West  Indies." 

But  seldom  is  any  mention  made  of  fruit  ap 
pearing  upon  the  table,  although  we  learn  that 
nuts  were  well  liked,  no  less  a  person  than  General 
Washington  being  extremely  fond  of  them.  "At 
dessert,"  says  the  Prince  de  Broglie,  "he  consumed 
an  enormous  quantity  of  nuts,  sometimes  for  two 
hours,  if  the  conversation  continued  to  interest 
him."  Savarin  commented  favorably  upon  this 

[Ml 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

custom  of  eating  nuts,  and  seemed  to  prefer 
"coco  and  ycory  [Roux  spells  it  ikery]  nuts."  He 
liked  them  after  dinner  with  his  wine,  because  of 
their  thirst-producing  qualities,  also  possessed  by 
the  "welch  rabbets,"  with  which  he  was  wont  to 
regale  his  two  fellow  emigres,  Vicomte  de  la  Massue 
and  Jean  Rodolphe  Fehr,  at  Little's  Tavern,  in 
New  York.  He  describes  this  dainty  as  "a  bit  of 
roasted  cheese  on  a  slice  of  bread.  To  be  sure, 
this  preparation  is  not  so  substantial  as  rabbit 
meat,  but  it  stimulates  thirst,  makes  the  wine 
seem  good,  and  is  proper  for  dessert  in  a  small 
company." 

Most  of  the  Frenchmen  went  to  America  on  war 
ships,  but  those  few  who  came  on  American  vessels 
received  an  excellent  first  impression  of  our  food, 
by  reason  of  the  fare  served  on  board.  We  may 
remark  in  passing  that  it  could  not  have  been  easy 
to  victual  ships  when  the  westward  trip  generally 
took  about  seventy  days.  Says  Brissot:  "The 
American  ships  have,  as  a  rule,  good  provisions  in 
abundance.  Their  salt  beef  is  almost  as  good  as 
that  of  Ireland.  We  ate  potatoes  up  to  the  very 
moment  we  arrived  at  Boston.  That  will  doubtless 
surprise  you  because  the  general  belief  in  France 
is  that  in  the  spring  they  sprout  and  become 
bad.  Breakfast  with  tea,  coffee,  or  chocolate;  at 
dinner,  meat,  vegetables,  wine,  and  beer,  no  coffee 
and  rarely  any  liqueur;  tea  at  five  or  six  o'clock; 
fio51 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

at  supper,  eggs  and  rice, — that  was  our  way  of 
living." 

So  often  do  the  French  comment  approvingly 
upon  the  general  cleanliness  of  the  American  peo 
ple,  that  we  are  not  surprised  to  hear  from  Brissot 
that  "kitchens  are  kept  clean,  and  do  not  give  out 
the  disgusting  smell  to  be  found  in  the  best  kitchens 
of  France.  The  dining  rooms,  which  are  generally 
on  the  ground  floor,  are  also  clean  and  well  aired; 
cleanliness  and  fresh  air  is  to  be  found  every 
where."  It  is  distressing  to  find  in  Perrin  du  Lac 
that  "they  don't  use  napkins.  They  have  forks 
with  two  prongs  that  are  only  used  when  carving. 
They  eat  with  their  knives,  which  have  rounded 
ends" — all  of  which  is  more  of  a  compliment  to 
our  ancestors'  manual  dexterity  than  to  their  man 
ners. 

Smoking  has  become  such  a  recognized  ad 
junct  to  meals  that  it  is  really  quite  surprising 
how  few  are  the  allusions  made  by  the  French 
to  the  use  of  tobacco,  especially  when  one  reflects 
that  they  were  visiting  the  land  which  provided 
Europe  with  its  supply  of  that  "fragrant  weed." 
Bayard  tells  us  that  "almost  all  the  men  chew 
tobacco,"  while  St.  Mery's  remark  upon  the  sub 
ject  is  the  most  complete  of  any:  "All  Ameri 
cans  are  smokers,  they  also  chew,  and  sometimes 
do  both  at  once,  but  the  American  of  any  class 
who  uses  snuff  is  a  phenomenon,  and  their  women 
[106] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

do  not  deform  and  dirty  their  noses  as  do  Euro 
peans."  Perrin  du  Lac  found  that  it  was  the 
custom  to  smoke  cigars  in  American  theatres, 
and  he  concluded  that,  in  the  opinion  of  our  an 
cestors,  "a  Havana  cigar,  a  newspaper  and  a 
bottle  of  madeira  make  up  all  the  delights  of 
life." 


[107] 


CHAPTER  V 

AMERICAN    PHYSICAL    TRAITS    AND 

TEMPERAMENT,  AND  THE  EFFECT 

OF  OUR  CLIMATE 

IT  was  difficult  for  General  Rochambeau, 
commander-in-chief  of  the  French  forces,  to 
understand  how  a  bookseller  like  Mr.  Knox 
could  promptly  prove  himself  an  able  artillery  offi 
cer  when  given  charge  of  that  arm  of  the  Amer 
ican  service,  and  also  how  the  American  troops, 
although  entirely  inexperienced  in  siege  operations, 
should  have  so  readily  adapted  themselves  to  work 
in  the  trenches  before  Yorktown !  This  also  puz 
zled  the  Marquis  de  Chastellux  as  much  as  it 
had  his  chief.  To  both  of  them,  carefully  trained 
in  accordance  with  the  best  European  military 
system,  it  was  inconceivable  that  any  one  lack 
ing  such  professional  training  should,  by  reason 
of  a  certain  natural  equipment,  achieve  distinc 
tion  in  the  art  of  war.  That  natural  trait  has 
since  come  to  be  recognized  as  American  adapta 
bility,  and  it  is  credited  to  us  as  a  great  national 
asset.  Crevecoeur  realized,  thanks  to  his  long 
residence  among  us,  that  novel  conditions  were 
[108] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

generating  changes  in  our  physical  traits:  "The 
American  is  a  new  man  who  goes  upon  new  prin 
ciples.  Most  of  them,  therefore,  entertain  new 
ideas  and  develop  new  opinions.  From  involun 
tary  idleness,  penury,  and  useless  labor  he  has 
passed  to  toil  of  a  very  different  nature  rewarded 
by  ample  returns.  This  is  an  American."  And 
Talleyrand,  the  ablest  of  all  the  French  who 
visited  us,  foresaw  that  we  "will  one  day  be  a 
great  people,  the  wisest  and  happiest  on  earth." 
General  Victor  Collot  looked  so  far  into  the 
future  as  to  feel  that  "America  seems  destined 
to  play  a  leading  role  a  few  years  hence  in  the 
politics  of  Europe." 

The  ready  adaptability  of  the  American  to  any 
new  condition  that  might  arise,  plus  his  quick 
ness  of  mind,  elicited  numerous  favorable  com 
ments  from  the  French.  Brissot  is  one  of  the 
many  to  speak  of  our  inventive  ability,  already 
beginning  to  show  itself,  but  he  was  disposed  to 
credit  this  gift  to  Mother  Necessity,  coupled  with 
certain  climatic  influences.  Perhaps  if  he  could 
to-day  witness  the  amazing  number  of  patent 
applications  pouring  into  our  Patent  Office,  he 
would  realize  that  he  had  unwittingly  remarked 
a  strong  racial  trait  which  was  to  persist  and  de 
velop  long  after  it  had  outgrown  the  taskmaster 
necessity  of  those  early  colonial  struggles. 

It  was  but  natural  that  this  quickness  of  mind 
[  109] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

should  sometimes  strike  a  foreigner  as  productive 
of  excessive  curiosity,  and  a  propos  of  this,  Chastel- 
lux  is  in  his  best  vein  when  repeating  a  traveller's 
tale  anent  this  tendency  of  our  forefathers:  "He 
says  the  Americans  are  the  most  inquisitive  peo 
ple  he  has  ever  seen.  Their  curiosity,  according 
to  him,  is  pushed  almost  to  impropriety.  When 
he  asked  his  way  they  only  answered,  'you  ap 
parently  come  from  Philadelphia.'  When  dying 
of  hunger  and  thirst  he  demanded  food,  instead 
of  serving  him,  they  said,  'you  seem  to  be  in  a 
great  hurry,  is  there  anything  new  in  the  North  ? ' 
He  also  relates  that  Mr.  Franklin  (who  possessed 
a  sense  of  humor  in  addition  to  that  habitual  calm 
which  so  surprised  the  Europeans)  whenever  he 
was  travelling  in  Connecticut,  a  section  noted  for 
its  curiosity,  was  accustomed  when  he  entered 
an  inn  to  call  all  the  family  together  and  an 
nounce  in  a  loud  tone,  'I  am  Benjamin  Franklin, 
I  was  born  in  Boston,  I  am  a  printer  by  trade.  I 
am  coming  from  Philadelphia  and  I  am  going 
back  there  at  such-and-such  time.  I  do  not 
know  anything  new,  and  now,  my  friends,  will 
you  tell  me  what  you  can  give  me  for  supper  ? ' ' 
It  seems  almost  a  pity  to  attempt  any  rebuttal 
of  so  good  a  story,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  our  an 
cestors  to  quote  from  General  Moreau  in  their 
defense:  "You  arrive  at  a  place,  or  change  your 
domicile,  or  set  out  on  a  journey,  but  no  one 
[no] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

bothers  himself  about  you."  And  Hilliard  d'Au- 
berteuil  insists  that  "one  never  sees  there,  as  in 
European  cities,  inquisitive  idlers,  hanging  about 
public  places  on  the  lookout  for  news,  or  amus 
ing  themselves  by  staring  at  newly  arrived 
strangers."  On  the  other  hand,  Bonnet  no 
tices  that  "New  Englanders  are  inquisitive,  espe 
cially  to  foreigners." 

Strangely  enough,  although  references  are  con 
stant  to  our  climate  and  its  effect  in  developing 
a  distinct  American  type,  very  few  differences  are 
described  between  European  climate  and  ours, 
except  by  Volney,  who  visited  us  in  1795  and 
devoted  two  whole  volumes  to  "the  climate  and 
soil  of  the  United  States."  Fersen  says  of  New 
port  that  "the  climate  is  superb,"  but  then  adds 
that  the  heat  there  in  August  reminds  him  of 
Italy.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  of  Volney's 
observations  is  as  to  "the  amount  of  electric 
fluid  with  which  the  American  atmosphere  is  im 
pregnated  to  a  greater  proportion  than  that  of 
Europe;  there  is  no  need  of  mechanical  or  arti 
ficial  apparatus  to  make  this  sensible — it  is  suffi 
cient  to  draw  a  silk  ribbon  rapidly  across  some 
woollen  stuff  to  have  it  contract  far  more  quickly 
than  I  have  ever  seen  it  do  in  France."  He  finds 
the  most  salient  difference  between  the  climates 
of  America  and  Europe  is  that  "there  is  no 
spring  in  the  United  States,  and  one  passes 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

abruptly  from  rigorous  cold  to  violent  heat,  ac 
companied  by  the  strange  circumstances  of  a 
cold  wind  and  a  burning  sun,  a  winter  landscape 
and  a  summer  sky."  Pontgibaud  is  another  of 
the  few  to  notice  the  remarkable  brevity  of  our 
spring,  and  also  the  delightful  superiority  enjoyed 
by  our  bright,  clear  autumns  over  the  gloomy 
weeks  which  generally  mark  that  season  in 
Europe:  "A  peculiarity  of  the  climate  of  this 
country  is  that  often  there  is  no  spring,  and 
owing  to  this  absence  of  one  of  the  pleasantest 
seasons  of  the  year  you  pass  straight  from  a 
long,  hard  winter  to  weather  of  insupportable 
heat  which  has  followed,  without  any  intermedi 
ate  gradations,  a  severe  frost.  The  autumns,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  long  and  very  fine."  The 
Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  on  their  farm  near 
Albany,  remarked  that  "it  is  interesting  to  re 
cord  how  suddenly  spring  arrives  in  these  lati 
tudes.  Early  in  March  the  northwest  wind, 
after  having  been  in  complete  control  all  winter, 
stopped  abruptly.  The  southern  breezes  began 
to  be  felt,  and  the  snow  melted  so  rapidly  that 
in  two  days  the  roads  were  transformed  into  tor 
rents.  In  less  than  a  week  the  fields  turned 
green,  and  the  woods  were  filled  with  innumer 
able  wild  flowers  unknown  in  Europe." 

And  now  for  a  surprise — the  French  thought 
us  a  phlegmatic  people!    "Coldness  and  reserve 

[112] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

seem  to  me  to  be  characteristics  of  the  American 
nation,"  says  Deux-Ponts.  "  They  appear  to  have 
little  of  that  enthusiasm  which  one  attributes  to  a 
people  fighting  for  their  liberties."  Roux,  who, 
visited  America  in  1784  concluded  that  "physical 
and  moral  causes  will  always  prevent  them  from 
becoming  conquerors,  unless  their  population  sud 
denly  increases  through  circumstances  impossible 
now  to  foresee."  Minister  Fauchet  and  his  fellow 
Commissioners,  writing  home  April  19,  1795,  re 
port  that  "Americans  are  cold  by  nature,  .  .  and 
don't  care  to  take  part  in  public  demonstrations 
or  in  processions."  "The  calm  tranquillity  with 
which  they  argue  their  cases,"  says  Perrin  du 
Lac,  "cannot  fail  to  amuse  a  stranger.  Even  in 
the  most  important  affairs  you  will  never  see  the 
speaker  move  head  or  hands,  nor  will  he  by 
the  slightest  inflection  of  his  voice  indicate  that 
he  is  more  aroused  at  one  time  than  another." 
After  upbraiding  us  for  our  "dull  spirit  and  soul 
without  energy,"  Beaujour  adds:  "But  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  their  temperament  will  improve 
with  their  climate,  and  that  the  American  will 
one  day  acquire  more  vivacity  of  spirit,  and  more 
strength  of  character."  Robin  says  that  our 
"climate  afforded  but  little  energy,"  and  it  must 
have  been  disheartening  to  our  forefathers  to 
learn  of  his  fear  that  our  climate  must  limit  our 
future  greatness.  The  antidote  which  he  sug- 
[  n31 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

gests  for  the  said  climatic  handicap  would  hardly 
suit  temperance  societies:  ;4The  indolent,  pas 
sive  character  of  this  people  arouses  the  fear 
that  they  will  not  arrive  at  the  world  power 
which  so  many  advantages  promise  them.  But 
this  character  is  due  to  customs,  to  climate,  and 
to  food  which  some  day  will  change.  Unsub 
stantial  food  and  drinks  but  slightly  alcoholic 
(and,  therefore,  dissolvent  rather  than  digestive) 
must  necessarily  relax  the  fibres,  give  a  slower, 
more  uniform  circulation  to  the  blood,  and  there 
fore  cause  a  mentality  less  active,  and  an  imag 
ination  less  animated,  a  greater  reserve  and  a 
calmer  character.  But  when  a  numerous  popu 
lation  shall  have  cut  down  these  immense  for 
ests,  the  soil  opened  up  to  the  sun  with  a  freer 
and  less  rarefied  air,  new  forms  of  agriculture  and 
a  greater  commerce  will  increase  the  use  of  al 
coholic  liquors  and  cause  a  closer  communication 
between  men  now  widely  separated — all  these  will 
awake  and  excite  the  passions,  and  then  the 
Americans  will  reveal  all  that  of  which  they  are 
capable."  Strange  theories  these  to  be  ad 
vanced  by  a  chaplain  of  Rochambeau's  army ! 

So  lazy  were  our  forebears,  according  to  Blan- 
chard,  that  "during  the  winter  they  go  out  but 
little,  and  pass  whole  days  together  sitting  in 
the  chimney  corner  or  beside  their  wives  doing 
nothing,  not  even  reading,  so  that,  to  escape 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

boredom,  they  have  to  partake  of  frequent  meals." 
Roux  complains  that  "they  are  only  willing  to 
work  two  or  three  days  a  week. "  ' '  The  Americans 
were,  as  a  rule,  lazy,"  says  Fersen,  and  most  of 
the  French  seem  to  agree  with  him  and  Blanchard, 
Milliard  d'Auberteuil  being  one  of  the  very  few  to 
come  to  our  defense:  "Lazy  men  are  extremely 
rare,"  says  he,  "they  have  not  yet  had  time  to  ac 
quire  the  habit  of  laziness."  Although  Volney  as 
serts  that  they  "did  not  rise  early  in  the  morning," 
and  were  "naturally  cold  and  phlegmatic,  slow  and 
taciturn,"  he  admits  that  "once  up,  they  spend 
the  entire  day  in  an  uninterrupted  round  of  use 
ful  occupations."  Crevecceur,  who  lived  longer 
among  us  than  any  of  the  others,  and  whose 
opinion  has  therefore  a  peculiar  value,  holds  an 
entirely  opposite  view  and  believes  that  Euro 
peans  became  "tuned  up"  after  arrival  here, 
nor  is  this  the  only  point  upon  which  he  was 
nearer  right  than  those  of  his  countrymen  who 
had  but  a  few  weeks  or  months  in  which  to  ob 
serve  us. 

Although  our  ancestors  struck  the  Frenchmen  as 
being  phlegmatic,  this  astonishing  observation  will 
be  partially  explained  if  we  remember  who  it  is  that 
is  speaking,  and  reflect  that  we  are  listening  to 
comments  from  members  of  a  Latin  race  upon  an 
agglomeration  of  Anglo-Saxons,  even  the  liveliest 
of  whom  must  seem  oversteady  to  a  Latin.  Per- 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

haps  the  most  Latin  of  all  the  comments  is  one 
from  the  pen  of  Bayard:  "The  phlegmatic  inhabi 
tants  of  the  New  World  seem  to  lack  that  delicate 
organization  which  gives  foresight.  One  must 
actually  beat  upon  their  nerves  to  make  them  vi 
brate,  whilst  in  France  it  is  enough  to  touch  them 
with  the  finger  tip.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
reproach  us  with  the  short  duration  of  our  emo 
tions." 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  they  could  so 
constantly  accuse  us  of  sluggishness,  especially 
as  their  conclusions  seem  so  seldom  justified  by 
their  premises.  Take  St.  Mery,  for  an  example 
— notice  the  conclusion  with  which  he  starts,  and 
then  his  basis  for  it:  "Man  receives  from  this 
climate  an  effect  which  deprives  him  of  a  part  of 
his  energy,  and  which  disposes  him  to  indolence, 
but  that  does  not  prevent  him  from  being  quarrel 
some,  and  the  quarrel  generally  ends  in  a  boxing 
match.  Boxing  has  its  laws  and  regulations. 
The  two  athletes  choose  the  place  of  combat. 
They  undress  themselves  so  that  nothing  but 
their  shirts  remain  on  the  upper  part  of  their 
bodies,  and  roll  their  sleeves  up  above  the  el 
bows.  Then  on  an  agreed  signal,  they  rush  at 
each  other,  deliver  blows  on  the  chest,  head, 
face  and  stomach — blows  the  sound  of  which  no 
one  could  imagine  who  had  not  attended  such  a 
spectacle.  After  each  new  shock  they  draw  back 
[116] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

and  separate.  If  one  of  them  falls  during  one 
of  these  attacks  his  adversary  does  not  touch 
him  so  long  as  he  is  on  the  ground,  but  the  slight 
est  movement  he  makes  to  rise,  the  other  has  the 
right  to  hit  him  and  to  knock  him  down  again. 
Nobody  interferes  to  separate  the  champions; 
they  make  a  ring  around  them,  and  encourage 
them, — each,  the  one  in  whom  he  takes  especial 
interest.  So  long  as  one  of  them  does  not  con 
sider  himself  beaten,  the  other  holds  him  down 
and  smothers  him  with  blows  every  time  he  tries 
to  rise  from  the  ground.  As  soon  as  this  admis 
sion  of  defeat  is  secured,  the  vanquished  gets  up, 
dresses  himself,  arid  is  free  to  depart  until  the 
next  challenge — if  he  has  the  temerity  to  accept 
one.  At  the  end  of  the  battle  one  of  the  boxers, 
and  sometimes  both,  are  covered  with  the  blood 
which  they  expectorate,  vomit,  or  else  lose  from 
the  nose.  Teeth  are  broken,  eyes  are  shut  by 
being  puffed  up,  and  sometimes  the  sight  is  de 
stroyed."  Bayard  also  tells  of  this  same  gentle 
pastime:  "The  athletes  use  fists,  feet  and  teeth; 
they  pluck  out  each  other's  eyes  and  this  is  how 
it  is  done; — the  champions  approach  each  other, 
delivering  without  warning  heavy  blows  of  the  fist ; 
they  entwine  their  forefingers  in  their  enemy's 
hair,  then,  stiffening  their  thumbs,  apply  them 
to  the  corners  of  the  eyes  and  make  them  pop 
out,  amid  cheers  from  a  ferocious  circle  urging 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

them  on.  Woe  to  the  careless  wight  who  allows 
his  finger  or  thumb  to  get  caught,  for  they  will 
be  bitten  by  his  adversary.  Every  market  day 
we  saw  crowds  form  round  drunken  athletes 
whom  the  code  of  honor  forced  to  box.  Fright 
ened  women  fled  from  these  barbarous  pastimes 
learned  from  the  English.  Generally  a  bruiser 
(breaker  of  bones)  is  judge  for  the  combatants 
and  compels  the  observance  of  the  rules.  You 
see  him  marching  gravely  round  the  circle  and 
addressing  the  two  champions  with  an  air  of  au 
thority.  It  is  he  who  gives  the  signal  for  combat 
or  applause.  The  imbecile  crowd  has  more  re 
spect  for  his  orders  than  they  would  have  for  a 
magistrate.  After  the  combat  the  friends  of  the 
winner  surround  him,  and  shake  his  hands,  while 
others  with  lemons  stop  the  blood  which  flows 
from  his  nostrils.  This  personage  receives  their 
attentions  and  praise  with  the  studied  solemnity 
of  a  theatrical  hero." 

Needless  to  say,  such  acute  observers  did  not 
fail  to  notice  how  differing  latitude  makes  for  a 
difference  in  temperament  between  the  Ameri 
cans  of  the  Middle  States  and  those  to  the  north 
and  south.  This  is  how  it  struck  Beaujour: 
"  The  men  are  strong  and  enterprising  in  the  north, 
fickle  and  frivolous  in  the  middle  states,  careless 
and  lazy  in  the  southern  ones.  A  Bostonian 
would  seek  his  fortune  in  the  bottom  of  hell, 
FiiSl 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

but  a  Virginian  would  not  go  four  steps  for  it; 
an  inhabitant  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Baltimore  does  not  die  content  if  during  his  life 
time  he  has  not  changed  his  occupation  three  or 
four  times!  Customs  brought  from  abroad  still 
obtain  throughout  the  northern  and  middle 
states.  It  is  not  until  one  crosses  the  Potomac 
that  these  customs,  so  clearly  marked  with  the 
traces  of  colonial  manners,  appear  to  have  ab 
solutely  changed.  And  whether  this  change 
comes  about  from  the  influence  of  climate  or 
negro  slavery,  it  is  none  the  less  noticeable  in 
all  the  usages  of  life — their  commerce  is  turned 
over  to  strangers,  agriculture  abandoned  to 
slaves,  and  the  proprietor,  under  the  luxurious 
title  of  'planter'  concerns  himself  with  his 
pleasures  alone."  Chastellux  also  notices  how 
marked  was  the  difference  between  the  various 
sections  of  the  country:  "If  one  wishes  to  ob 
tain  an  idea  of  the  American  republic  he  must 
not  confound  the  Virginians  (whom  a  spirit  as 
warlike  as  mercantile,  as  ambitious  as  speculative, 
brought  to  this  continent)  with  the  New  Eng- 
landers,  who  owe  their  origin  to  religious  enthu 
siasm.  One  must  not  expect  to  find  the  same 
result  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  first  colonists 
thought  only  of  peopling  and  cultivating  the 
wilderness,  as  in  South  Carolina,  where  the  pro 
duction  of  certain  privileged  articles  turned  pub- 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

lie  attention  to  foreign  trade,  and  established 
connections  necessary  therefor  with  the  old  world." 

Of  the  climate  of  Pennsylvania,  Brissot  says 
that  it  is  "less  cold  than  in  the  northern  states, 
less  warm  and  suffocating  than  in  the  middle 
states,  and  offers  considerable  additional  attrac 
tion."  The  Comte  de  Fersen,  during  his  stay  with 
the  army  at  Newport,  wrote  home  to  his  father, 
"the  climate  is  superb." 

So  great  was  the  difference  between  the  colonies 
that  several  of  these  foreign  commentators  pre 
dicted  a  political  disagreement  between  the  people 
of  the  north  and  those  of  the  south.  Marnezia 
thought  that  if  we  did  not  break  up  into  a  northern 
and  a  southern  republic  we  should  end  by  even  a 
greater  division  either  into  many  small  republics 
or  else  into  eight  separate  monarchies.  May  his 
forecast  never  be  nearer  consummation  than  it 
has  been  up  to  the  present  day ! 

Great  as  was  the  difference  between  the  sec 
tions  in  those  early  days,  far  greater  than  to-day, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  in  no  wise  af 
fected  the  unanimity  of  the  colonies  in  their  re 
volt  against  the  mother  country.  We  modern 
Americans,  a  united  and  homogeneous  people, 
are  apt  to  pass  over  this  surprising  fact  of  our 
early  history.  The  hereditary  Prince  of  Bruns 
wick  told  Rochambeau  just  before  the  Revolu 
tion  broke  out,  that  the  colonists  lacked  the 
[  120] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

cohesion  necessary  for  a  general  revolt,  and  pre 
dicted  that  it  would  take  a  whole  century  to 
overcome  the  local  jealousies  and  intercolony 
animosities.  But  he  was  wrong — the  amazingly 
unanimous  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  independence 
rang  equally  true  in  all  parts  of  the  land;  the 
patriotism  seen  at  Bunker  Hill  was  no  greater 
than  that  displayed  in  the  swamps  of  Georgia, 
or  during  the  dreadful  winter  at  Valley  Forge. 
Such  Toryism  as  existed  seems  to  have  been 
due  to  private  interest  among  the  aristocratic 
classes  in  the  cities  controlled  by  the  English. 
Notwithstanding  constant  temptations  to  desert 
the  cause  of  the  struggling  colonies,  seemingly 
doomed  to  defeat,  Benedict  Arnold  is  alone  in 
his  infamy.  It  does  one  good  to  read  Rocham- 
beau's  account  of  the  spirited  refusal  of  British 
gold  by  the  American  sergeant  at  the  head  of 
the  revolted  Pennsylvania  State  troops  march 
ing  to  demand  arrears  of  pay  from  Congress  in 
Philadelphia. 

General  Rochambeau  observed  that  "the  north 
ern  states  enjoy  about  the  same  temperature 
as  Paris,  the  middle  states  that  of  our  southern 
provinces,  while  those  of  the  south  suffer  all  the 
burning  heat  of  the  coast  of  Barbary;  from  this 
it  results  that  they  enjoy  long  life  in  the  northern 
states,  shorter  in  the  middle  ones,  while  in  the 
southern  states  at  sixty  years  of  age  they  are  ab- 

[121] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

solutely  decrepit."  Volney~also  thought  that  life 
was  shorter  in  the  south  than  at  the  north,  and 
Michaux  (junior),  while  travelling  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  saw  "some  old  men  over  seventy- 
five  years  of  age,  which  is  rare  in  the  Atlantic 
States  south  of  Pennsylvania."  This  subject  of 
American  longevity  was  one  of  great  interest  to 
our  visitors,  and  provoked  among  them  a  vigorous 
and  somewhat  amusing  discussion,  in  which  even 
the  tombstones  of  our  churchyards  were  forced 
(doubtless  with  reluctance)  to  testify  against  us. 
It  was  Robin,  one  of  the  earliest  to  arrive,  who 
set  this  fashion  of  noting  the  ages  on  tombstones, 
and  from  these  he  deduced  that  we  were  an  un 
usually  short-lived  race.  "I  had  assumed  that 
life  would  be  short,  and  therefore  I  examined  the 
cemeteries  of  Boston.  They  are  accustomed  to 
carve  on  each  gravestone  the  name  and  age,  and 
I  found  there  that  the  lives  of  most  of  the  male 
deceased  seldom  reached  fifty  years,  and  I  saw 
very  few  of  sixty,  almost  none  of  seventy,  and 
none  at  all  above  that."  But  Brissot,  who  al 
ways  delighted  to  correct  somebody  about  some 
thing,  rallies  to  our  defense  with  the  aid  of  even 
more  reliable  statistics  and  gives  us  rather  the 
better  of  the  comparison  in  this  regard  over  Euro 
peans:  "Abbe  Robin  says  that  after  twenty-five 
the  American  women  appear  old,  that  young 
children  die  in  greater  proportion  than  in  Europe, 

r  122 1 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

and  that  there  are  few  old  men.  Nothing  could 
be  more  untrue.  I  have  carefully  observed 
women  between  thirty  and  fifty  years  of  age, 
and  found  most  of  them  plump  and  of  good 
health.  I  have  seen  some  fifty  years  old  who 
still  had  a  very  fresh  appearance;  one  would  not 
have  given  them  more  than  forty.  I  have  no 
ticed  this  same  good  health  manifested  in  women 
from  sixty  to  seventy,  and  am  speaking  now  espe 
cially  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut  women.  It  is  true  that  in  Penn 
sylvania  one  does  not  see  the  same  bright  hues 
on  the  interesting  faces  of  the  Quaker  women 
and  girls,  for  they  are  generally  pale.  I  have 
remarked  their  teeth, — some  very  handsome  ones; 
there  is  no  rule  to  be  laid  down  in  this  respect 
and  American  women  have  the  same  failing  as 
English  women, — they  are  too  fond  of  hot  drinks. 
Not  only  is  the  number  of  old  men  greater  here 
than  in  Europe,  as  I  am  going  to  prove,  but  these 
old  folk  generally  preserve  their  intellectual  and 
often  their  physical  faculties.  I  am  reminded 
that  at  Ipswich,  in  Massachusetts,  there  is  an 
old  Minister  who  still  preaches  well  although 
ninety  years  old.  I  am  told  of  another  of  the 
same  age  who  went  twenty  miles  on  foot  every 
Sunday  to  attend  meeting.  Finally,  there  is  Mr. 
Temple,  one  hundred  years  old,  who  died  in  New 
Hampshire  in  1765.  He  left  eight  children,  four 

[123] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

girls  and  four  boys,  of  the  following  ages,  86, 
85,  83,  79,  77,  75,  73."  Something  of  Milliard 
d'Auberteuil's  concerning  the  preservation  of 
their  faculties  by  our  elderly  men  is  so  a  propos 
that  we  will  interrupt  Brissot  and  interject  it 
here:  "They  become  adult  at  twenty  and  old  at 
fifty,  and  they  grow  to  be  as  taciturn,  as  our 
aged  folk  become  loquacious.  At  bottom  their 
character  tends  to  gravity,  and  they  generally, 
at  that  age,  have  less  memory,  much  more  will 
than  thinking  power,  prudence  than  reasoning 
power,  moderation  than  genius;  but  for  those 
very  reasons  they  are  better  qualified  to  guide 
peoples,  and  more  difficult  to  subdue."  Return 
ing  once  more  to  Brissot,  he  sets  out  in  further 
support  of  his  contention  a  table  of  vital  statis 
tics  of  Harvard  graduates  and  adds,  "what  you 
must  conclude  from  all  these  facts  and  statistical 
tables  (even  if  the  calculations  lack  rigorous  ex 
actness),  is  that  a  man's  life  is  much  longer  in 
the  United  States  than  in  the  healthiest  country 
of  Europe."  St.  Mery  disagrees  with  Brissot 
and  supports  Robin,  whose  reliance  upon  grave 
yard  statistics  he  approves:  "American  women 
are  charming  and  adorable  at  fifteen,  faded  at 
twenty-three,  old  at  thirty-five,  decrepit  at  forty 
or  forty-five,  and  subject  to  nervous  troubles. 
To  judge  from  tombstones,  Americans  generally 
die  between  thirty-five  and  forty-five."  Chas- 

[124] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

tellux  would  seem  to  side  with  St.  Mery  and 
Robin,  for  he  says  of  a  certain  planter:  "This 
Mr.  Lambert  is  somewhat  of  a  phenomenon  in 
America,  where  longevity  is  not  common.  He  is 
eighty-three  years  old  and  hardly  seems  fifty- 
five."  But  Mazzei,  on  the  other  hand,  criticises 
Chastellux  for  alleging  that  longevity  is  infre 
quent  in  America,  and  the  Due  de  La  Rochefou 
cauld  especially  extols  the  great  length  of  life 
frequent  in  Maine.  Bonnet,  too,  specifically 
states  that  Americans  are  long-lived.  Volney 
declares  that  we  suffered  from  a  tendency  to 
catch  cold,  which  he  blames  to  "overheated 
apartments,  balls,  tea-parties,  and  feather  beds 
(sometimes  in  the  German  style,  i.  e.,  feathers 
both  above  and  below  the  body)." 

Let  us  leave  them  quarrelling  among  them 
selves  as  to  how  OUT  climate  affected  us,  and  turn 
with  a  sigh  of  relief  to  the  peaceful  unanimity 
which  characterizes  their  recognition  of  its  bene 
ficial  effect  upon  Europeans.  Blanchard,  quarter 
master  of  the  French  troops,  shall  voice  this 
general  opinion,  for  he  can  speak  with  authority: 
"When  the  French  army  left  at  the  end  of  1782, 
after  two  and  a  half  years  spent  in  America,  we 
did  not  have  ten  sick  among  five  thousand  men. 
This  number,  less  than  the  proportion  of  soldiers 
ordinarily  in  hospital  in  France,  shows  how 
healthy  is  the  climate  of  the  United  States." 

[125] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Although  the  French  could  not  agree  upon 
whether  or  not  we  lived  long  lives,  they  were 
gracious  enough  to  find  us  a  fine-looking,  well- 
set-up  lot.  The  superior  physique  of  our  men, 
and  how  well  they  carried  themselves,  occasioned 
general  comment,  and  to  this  chorus  of  approval 
there  are  but  few  dissenting  voices.  Beaujour 
expresses  the  opinion  generally  held  by  his  com 
patriots  when  he  writes:  "The  Americans  are 
almost  all  tall,  with  good  figures,  strong  well- 
proportioned  limbs,  and  a  fresh,  bright  com 
plexion,  but  in  general  they  lack  fineness  of  linea 
ment,  and  have  but  little  expression  in  their 
faces.  Although  there  are  few  ugly  men  to  be 
found  among  them,  there  are  even  fewer  truly 
handsome  ones.  I  mean  to  say,  of  that  wild  and 
striking  beauty  sometimes  seen  in  the  south  of 
Europe,  and  which  served  as  a  model  for  the 
most  beautiful  statues  of  the  ancients."  St. 
Mery  agrees  that  our  men  were  tall  and  well 
made,  and  Bonnet  calls  us  "tall,  of  good  figure, 
sturdy,  and  courageous."  The  Vicomte  de  No- 
ailles  says  of  American  troops  that  "all  are  sober 
and  patient,  live  on  corn  bread,  undergo  priva 
tions  or  delays  without  murmuring,  are  capable 
of  fatigue  and  long  marches,  valuable  qualities 
which  make  of  them  a  veritably  light  infantry. 
Besides  they  look  well,  and  are  most  of  them 
handsome."  And  Hilliard  d'Auberteuil  says: 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

"Although  Americans  of  English  stock  are  less 
robust  than  most  European  peoples  (owing  to 
the  weakening  effect  of  their  moist  climate), 
they  are  more  fearless,  less  sensitive  to  wounds 
than  Europeans,  arid  more  easily  healed  of  them." 

From  Pontgibaud  we  learn  that  these  novel 
physical  traits  carried  with  them  a  certain  simple 
dignity:  "Congress  then  consisted  of  thirteen 
members,  one  from  each  State  of  the  Union,  but 
men  very  different  from  us  in  their  habits  and 
ways.  They  took  their  seats  in  the  Congress 
Hall  as  unostentatiously  as  we  should  enter  a 
reading-room  in  Paris,  and  the  wisdom  of  their 
magnanimous  resolutions  was  often  surpassed  by 
the  simplicity  of  their  manners."  Robin  also 
noticed  this  dignified  simplicity  and  credits  it  to 
our  diet,  but  he  says  that  our  food  is  not  suffi 
ciently  nourishing,  and  objects  to  the  insipidity 
of  such  of  our  drinks  as  tea  and  milk,  and  he 
thinks  that  we  live  shorter  lives  than  other  men 
on  this  account. 

Since  this  worthy  chaplain  in  Rochambeau's 
army  has  introduced  the  subject  of  the  fair  sex, 
let  us  see  how  our  ancestresses  struck  the  French 
men — we  find  a  gratifying  unanimity  of  approval, 
as  was  but  to  be  expected  from  such  gallant 
gentlemen.  Nevertheless,  they  indulge  in  occa 
sional  criticisms  as  well  as  a  few  left-handed 
compliments.  Although  Abbe  Robin  is  a  priest, 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

one  would  think  him  a  judge  from  the  even- 
handed  justice  of  his  conclusions:  "American 
women  are  tall  and  well-proportioned,  their  fea 
tures  are  generally  regular,  and  their  skins  very 
white,  without  color.  They  have  less  ease  of 
manner  than  French  women,  but  more  dignity. 
The  figures  of  the  men  are  equally  well-propor 
tioned.  They  have  little  flesh,  and  their  com 
plexion  is  rather  pale.  They  are  less  careless  in 
their  dress  than  the  women  and  very  clean.  At 
twenty  years  the  women  have  the  freshness  of 
youth  but  at  thirty-five  or  forty  they  are  wrinkled 
and  decrepit."  Although  Perrin  du  Lac  found 
our  women  almost  as  phlegmatic  as  our  men,  "I 
soon  noticed  that  the  very  first  note  of  a  musical 
instrument  sufficed  to  dissipate  that  apathy 
which  seemed  to  affect  both  sexes  alike.  The 
girls  danced  with  a  pleasure  that  showed  itself 
in  their  faces.  The  more  active  and  fatiguing 
the  dance,  the  better  they  liked  it.  By  nature 
pale  though  pretty,  American  girls  for  the  most 
part  lack  that  vivacity  which  is  the  soul  of  beauty. 
Rarely  aroused  during  the  course  of  their  uniform 
lives,  they  are  strikingly  attractive  only  when 
electrified  by  pleasure  or  passion,  at  which  times, 
they  are,  so  to  speak,  quite  unlike  themselves." 

Baron  Closen  admired  all  American  women,  but 
found  those  of  Philadelphia  a  little  too  serious, 
caused,  he  thinks,  by  the  presence  of  Congress 
[128! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

in  that  city.  One  is  moved  to  query  if  the  good 
baron  was  not  unduly  extending  the  prerogatives 
of  that  august  body.  Because  of  St.  Mery's 
long  stay  in  Philadelphia,  it  was  but  natural  that 
he  should  say:  "American  women  are  pretty  and 
those  of  Philadelphia  most  so;  no  other  city 
in  the  world  shows  such  a  proportion."  While 
passing  through  Virginia  he  thought  the  women 
pretty,  but  was  so  ungallant  as  to  allege  that 
they  had  long  feet  and  poor  teeth.  Bayard,  we 
are  glad  to  report,  comes  to  the  defense  of  the 
fair  Southerners:  "Virginia  women  are  tall,  well 
poised,  and  have  much  more  expression  in  their 
faces  than  other  American  women.  Although 
they  seem  better  fitted  for  the  fatigues  of  Diana 
than  the  games  of  Love,  they  obey  the  laws  of 
that  master  of  gods  and  men."  Segur  declared 
himself  a  partisan  of  the  Boston  dames:  "Europe 
offers  for  our  admiration  no  prettier  or  more 
elegant,  better  bred  or  more  talented  women  than 
those  of  Boston."  Beaujour  declined  to  be  drawn 
into  these  partisan  discussions;  his  opinion  of  our 
ladies  as  a  whole,  though  calmly  expressed,  is 
nevertheless  flattering:  "The  women  have  more 
of  that  delicate  beauty  which  is  the  right  of  their 
sex  and  in  general  more  refinement  and  expres 
sion  in  their  faces.  They  are  tall,  and  almost 
all  have  graceful  figures,  high  bosoms,  a  beauti 
ful  head,  and  an  amazing  whiteness  of  complex- 
[  129] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ion.  You  may  be  sure  that  along  with  this 
brilliant  exterior  there  goes  the  modest  air  and 
naive  grace  which  nature  lavishes  without  art, 
and  thus  you  will  get  an  idea  of  their  style  of 
beauty.  But  this  beauty  does  not  last  long;  at 
twenty-five  their  figures  alter,  and  at  thirty  al 
most  all  their  charms  are  gone."  We  have  al 
ready  seen  that  Brissot  does  not  agree  with  the 
view  that  American  women  fade  early,  and  he 
argues  stoutly  against  that  slanderous  allegation. 
Chastellux  gives  a  hint  that  stiffness  was  not  a 
failing  of  some  of  our  girls:  "We  were  waited 
on  at  supper  by  a  young  lady  of  great  beauty, 
named  Miss  Pearce.  She  was  a  neighbor  of  Mrs. 
D.  who  came  to  see  her  and  to  assist  in  the  ab 
sence  of  her  younger  sister.  This  young  person 
was  possessed,  like  all  American  girls,  of  a  very 
modest  demeanour,  indeed  even  a  serious  one. 
She  was  willing  to  have  you  look  at  her  or  praise 
her  face  and  even  give  a  few  caresses,  provided 
it  was  not  done  with  an  air  of  familiarity.  In 
fact,  bad  manners  are  so  unusual  in  America 
that  these  little  liberties  with  young  girls  are  of 
no  consequence  and  the  liberty  itself  possesses 
an  appearance  of  modesty  which  is  not  the  case 
with  our  affected  prudery  and  false  reserve." 
Lafayette  writes  his  wife  from  Charleston,  June 
19,  1777,  that  "American  women  are  very  pretty, 
very  simple,  and  of  a  charming  cleanliness." 
fiSol 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

And  now  as  to  the  home  life  of  the  early  Ameri 
cans — how,  if  at  all,  was  it  affected  by  these  new 
conditions  of  climate  and  environment?  For 
tunately  for  the  purposes  of  our  inquiries,  General 
Rochambeau  not  only  encouraged  his  officers  to 
travel  as  widely  as  possible,  but  also  gave  them 
especial  permission  to  lodge  in  private  houses 
whenever  the  opportunity  offered.  Says  the 
Comte  de  Segur:  "This  permission  gave  me  the 
pleasure  of  observing  more  in  detail  the  home 
life  of  American  families.  I  was  enchanted  with 
the  simplicity,  the  purity  of  manners,  and  the 
frank  cordiality  of  my  hosts.  Their  politeness, 
though  unstudied,  was  but  the  more  amiable 
for  that  reason;  they  had  good  breeding  and 
pleasant  manners;  everybody  was  natural.  It 
seemed  as  if  all  their  duties  were  pleasures  for 
them.  The  spirit  among  them  is  that  of  good 
sense;  reason  and  goodness  dictate  their  words 
and  preside  over  their  conduct,  and  it  must  be 
agreed  that  truth  and  happiness,  far  from  being 
totally  exiled  from  the  earth  as  gloomy  phi 
losophers  have  said,  are  to  be  found  everywhere 
in  America."  When  passing  through  Dover  on 
his  way  to  Philadelphia  he  remarks  that  the 
neatness  of  the  place  proved  the  order,  activity, 
and  intelligence  of  its  people:  "Accustomed  to 
the  spectacle  of  our  [French]  magnificent  cities, 
to  the  affectations  of  our  young  men  of  fashion, 
[181] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

and  to  the  contrast  between  the  luxury  of  our 
upper  classes  with  the  shabby  attire  of  our  peas 
ants  and  the  rags  of  our  poor,"  he  was  surprised 
when  he  arrived  in  the  United  States  to  see  no 
where  such  luxury  nor  such  misery.  "All  the 
Americans  we  met  wore  well-cut  clothes,  of  good 
stuff,  and  had  good  shoes.  Their  bearing  was 
free,  frank,  and  cordial,  removed  alike  from 
roughness  and  studied  politeness,  and  showed 
them  men  of  independence,  but  law-abiding,  in 
sisting  upon  their  own  rights  while  respecting 
those  of  others.  Their  appearance  told  you 
that  you  were  in  the  land  of  reason,  order,  and 
liberty.  I  saw  with  admiration  well-peopled 
towns,  cities  where  everything  evidenced  an  ad 
vanced  civilization — schools,  churches,  and  uni 
versities;  nowhere  indigence  nor  rudeness,  but 
everywhere  fertility,  ease  of  circumstance,  and 
urbanity.  In  every  individual  you  met  there 
was  to  be  seen  the  tranquil  pride  of  the  inde 
pendent  man  who,  subject  only  to  his  laws, 
knows  neither  the  vanity,  the  prejudices,  nor  the 
forms  of  our  European  society;  such  is  the  pic 
ture  which,  during  all  my  travels,  surprised  and 
fixed  my  attention."  In  this  connection  let  us 
turn  to  Lafayette,  sure  of  a  word  of  kindly  ap 
preciation,  and  read  a  portion  of  one  of  his  letters 
to  his  young  wife:  "I  am  now  going  to  talk  to 
you  about  the  country  and  its  inhabitants.  They 

[132] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

are  fully  as  amiable  as  my  enthusiasm  painted 
them.  Simplicity  of  manners,  the  desire  to 
oblige,  the  love  of  country  as  well  as  of  liberty, 
and  a  charming  equality  everywhere  prevails. 
The  richest  and  the  poorest  are  on  a  level,  and 
although  there  are  immense  fortunes  in  this 
country,  I  defy  anyone  to  find  the  slightest  dif 
ference  in  the  manners  of  one  toward  the  other. 
Everything  recalls  English  customs,  except  that 
there  is  more  simplicity  in  the  homes  than  in 
England  I  am  enchanted  to  find  that  here  all 
citizens  are  brothers.  They  are  comfortably  off 
and  each  has  the  same  rights  as  the  most  power 
ful  landed  proprietor." 

Some  unknown  philosopher  has  said:  "Be 
virtuous  and  you  will  be  happy,  but  you  won't 
have  a  good  time."  Felix  de  Beaujour  might 
have  been  that  aforesaid  unknown  pessimist  to 
judge  from  the  following:  "Americans  in  their 
domestic  life  possess  more  of  the  elements  of 
happiness  than  Europeans,  but  in  their  social 
life  they  have  less  of  them  and,  though  it  is  true 
that  they  are  free  from  vexations,  they  live  almost 
without  pleasures.  They  know  nothing  of  the 
art  of  multiplying  and  diversifying  their  amuse 
ments  and  the  monotony  of  their  life  resembles 
the  silence  of  the  tomb."  Perhaps  the  easiest 
way  to  explain  why  the  French  thought  our 
ancestors'  lives  lacked  amusement  is  that,  from 
[i33] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

the  Latin  point  of  view,  all  Anglo-Saxons,  Ameri 
can  as  well  as  British,  take  their  pleasures  sadly. 
But  who  shall  say  if  the  simple  delights  of  the 
early  American  home  were  not  as  well  worth  while 
as  anything  the  gay  court  of  Louis  XVI  could 
afford,  even  long  before  the  shadow  of  Doctor 
Guillotin's  dreadful  invention  fell  athwart  it. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CITY  LIFE,  AND  ESPECIALLY  IN 

PHILADELPHIA,  CHARLESTON, 

AND  BOSTON 

ON  the  day  "the  embattled  farmers"  began 
the  immortal  fusillade  at  Lexington,  the  new 
Yale  Stadium,  seating  67,000  people,  could  have 
accommodated  the  combined  population  of  Phila 
delphia,  Boston,  and  New  York,  which  were 
then  respectively  20,000,  25,000,  and  20,000  ac 
cording  to  Robin,  Pontgibaud,  and  Mandrillon. 
To  perform  the  same  service  for  those  three  cities 
now  would  necessitate  a  coliseum  seating  about 
9,000,000,  a  project  which  only  the  Grand  Canon 
of  the  Colorado  would  be  able  to  entertain. 
Telescopes  would  be  needed  instead  of  opera- 
glasses,  and  the  spectacle  staged  for  such  an 
audience  would  have  to  be  on  the  scale  of  Euro 
pean  army  manoeuvres.  We  must  not  forget 
that  in  those  early  days,  according  to  Bonnet, 
Bayard,  and  Brissot,  only  one-tenth  of  our  popu 
lation  dwelt  in  cities  instead  of  the  47  per  cent 
of  to-day.  Nor  did  the  small  urban  population 
of  these  days  tend  to  increase  rapidly.  Even  in 
[i36] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

1790,  when  our  first  official  census  was  taken, 
the  figures  for  the  five  leaders  had  only  reached 
the  following  totals:  New  York,  33,131;  Phila 
delphia,  28,522;  Boston,  18,320;  Charleston, 
16,359;  Baltimore,  13,503. 

How  greatly  the  Revolution  increased  the  im 
portance  of  some  cities  while  at  the  same  time 
diminishing  that  of  others  is  fairly  startling,  as 
we  shall  come  to  know  when  we  read  of  them  in 
detail,  and  learn  how  much  New  York,  Providence, 
and  Boston  were  injured,  and  how  greatly  Balti 
more,  Newport,  and  Philadelphia  were  helped. 
In  few  cases  was  the  change  so  abrupt  as  that  in 
the  increase  of  Providence  and  the  decline  of 
Newport,  both  taking  place  at  the  same  time. 
Some  cities  made  their  gains  more  slowly  than 
others;  for  example,  Brissot  notes  that  just  after 
the  war  the  increase  of  building  in  Philadelphia 
was  less  striking  than  that  taking  place  in  New 
York.  How  rapidly  the  order  of  our  leading 
cities  was  changing  appears  from  comparing  the 
1790  figures  with  those  given  in  1810  by  Beau- 
jour:  Philadelphia,  120,000;  New  York,  90,000; 
Baltimore,  40,000;  Boston,  36,000;  Charleston, 
30,000;  New  Orleans,  20,000;  Washington,  6,000. 
In  passing  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  many  of 
the  French  bear  witness  that  the  rural  districts 
back  from  the  seacoast  were  actually  benefited 
by  the  war,  because  of  their  immunity  from 
Fi361 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ravages  by  the  British  navy,  to  which  the  sea- 
coast  was  constantly  exposed.  Colleville,  speak 
ing  of  the  number  of  vessels  in  all  the  harbors 
from  the  Potomac  to  Boston,  says:  "What  must 
not  have  been  their  commerce  before  the  trouble. 
I  saw  with  equal  surprise  the  flourishing  condi 
tion  of  the  interior  of  the  country." 

The  French  were  unanimous  in  their  high  praise 
of  American  cities  and  seemed  especially  struck 
by  three  features  unusual  in  Europe,  viz.,  their 
advantageous  location,  their  straight,  finely  built 
streets,  and  the  fact  that  they  possessed  sidewalks. 
This  last  trait  was  especially  novel  to  those  ac 
customed  to  the  risks  from  horses  and  vehicles 
constantly  run  by  foot-passengers  in  the  then 
filthy,  crowded,  and  crooked  streets  of  Paris. 
In  this  preference  of  the  French  for  our  cities 
over  those  of  Europe,  Robin  joins  heartily,  for, 
after  reciting  the  unpleasant  sights  of  dirty 
European  capitals,  he  says:  "All  those  of  America 
rise  proudly  on  smiling,  healthy  sites,  bathed 
with  pure  water,  surrounded  by  fertile  fields, 
crossed  by  broad,  straight  streets,  ornamented 
with  clean,  comfortable,  and  regular  buildings." 

That  the  Americans  should  consider  the  com 
fort  and  cleanliness  of  foot-passengers  by  provid 
ing  sidewalks  for  them  fills  Beaujour  with  some 
thing  akin  to  awe.  "Most  of  the  cities  are 
adorned  with  sidewalks  for  the  convenience  of 
[i37] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

foot  passengers  and  are  all  carefully  swept  and 
watered  during  the  great  heat."  "And  they  even 
have  sidewalks  on  both  sides  of  the  street,"  writes 
Bonnet,  "and  moreover  their  houses  are  marked 
with  numbers."  "Even  though  the  streets  of 
Charleston  were  not  paved,  they  were  provided 
with  brick  sidewalks,"  says  Michaux  the  younger. 
Mandrillon  becomes  enthusiastic  while  praising 
the  progress  of  order  and  decency  in  our  com 
munities  as  compared  with  those  of  Europe: 
"Each  city  has  commissioners  for  churches  and 
for  schools,  pilot-officers  for  ports,  police  to  clean 
and  keep  up  the  streets,  commissioners  and  in 
spectors  for  tobacco  and  other  taxes,  judges, 
night-watchmen,  etc.,  in  a  word,  there  reigns  so 
much  of  order,  decency,  security,  and  tranquil- 
ity  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Savannah,  Charles 
ton,  St.  Augustine,  that  no  one  who  visits  them 
but  would  prefer  to  dwell  in  those  towns  rather 
than  in  the  best  situated  ones  of  the  Old  World." 
The  effect  produced  upon  the  approaching  trav 
eller  by  certain  of  our  cities  is  recorded  by  Beau- 
jour:  "Boston,  New  York,  and  Baltimore,  which 
seem  to  rise  from  the  bosom  of  the  waters,  slop 
ing  gradually  up  over  uneven  ground,  offer  an 
agreeable  prospect  from  a  distance."  We  shall 
also  find  similar  comments  upon  the  fine  site 
enjoyed  by  Albany  and  by  certain  other  towns. 
Although  theatres  at  that  time  played  an  im- 
[i38] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

portant  part  in  the  social  life  of  Paris,  the  French 
men  have  little  or  nothing  to  say  of  theatres  in 
America.  The  most  comprehensive  comment  is 
one  from  Pen-in  du  Lac:  "This  theatre  is  large, 
well-built,  and  agreeably  decorated  within;  but 
comedy  is  here  still  in  its  infancy,  as  indeed  are 
all  the  fine  arts.  The  plays  are  all  English  ones 
—America  has  not  as  yet  produced  any.  Al 
though  some  of  the  actors  have  been  to  London 
to  develop  their  talent  they  have  been  unable  to 
throw  off  the  phlegmatic — the  even  character 
from  which  they  almost  never  escape.  Ameri 
cans  prefer  tragedy  to  comedy,  and  in  the  latter 
seem  to  take  no  real  pleasure  except  when  it 
portrays  the  opposite  of  their  own  characters- 
extreme  lightness  or  excessive  stupidity  or  ridic 
ulous  vulgarity.  The  noise  of  people  coming 
and  going  disturbs  the  spectators,  and  in  spite  of 
notices  to  the  contrary,  one  often  suffers  from 
the  continual  smoking  of  cigars.  The  men  keep 
on  their  hats  and  remain  seated,  but  rarely  being 
gallant  enough  to  offer  their  seats  to  ladies." 
Bayard  also  speaks  of  a  theatre,  and  yet  what  he 
saw  could  hardly  have  been  more  primitive: 
"Bath  has  two  public  edifices,  a  comedy  theatre, 
and  the  bathing  pavilion.  The  first  of  these  is  a 
log-house,  whose  interior  accords  with  the  sim 
plicity  of  its  external  architecture.  We  had  for 
our  entertainment  a  wandering  troupe  of  Irish 
[i39] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

comedians  who  had  left  their  country  to  come  here 
in  search  of  audiences  less  difficult  to  amuse  than 
are  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities,  towns,  and 
villages  of  Ireland;  the  reason  for  their  emigra 
tion  gives  a  fair  idea  of  these  poor  devils'  ability. 
They  were  in  turn  emperors,  peasants,  or  fools, 
and  besides  were  dying  of  hunger.  Assistance 
was  given  them  in  spite  of  the  severe  remon 
strances  of  the  Methodists,  who  claimed  that  an 
art  so  diabolical  as  the  drama  should  not  be 
encouraged  by  Christians.  The  pleasure  excited 
by  the  talent  of  these  actors  was  poisoned  by  the 
piracies  of  English  playwrights,  whose  rapacious 
hands  had  mutilated  the  masterpieces  of  Moliere. 
I  explained  these  larcenies  to  the  visitors  here  at 
the  springs  who  thought  all  the  plays  were  of 
English  origin.  Recapitulating  the  different 
kinds  of  recreation  which  one  enjoyed  at  Bath, 
I  will  say  then  that  tragedy,  comedy,  opera 
comique,  and  farce  were  played  for  us,  that  we 
danced  every  week,  and  that  tea-parties  were 
very  frequent."  St.  Mery  contributes  but  little 
to  our  store  of  information  on  this  subject,  al 
though  he  reports  that  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  a 
town  of  five  hundred  houses  and  3,000  people, 
there  was  a  theatre  built  of  brick,  where  seats 
were  sold  at  one  dollar  or  seventy-five  cents  each. 
In  his  article  on  Philadelphia,  dated  August  22, 
1798,  he  describes  a  theatre  and  says  that  women 
[i4o] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

go  in  the  parterre  as  well  as  men,  "but  not  women 
of  distinguished  appearance.  Women  also  go  in 
the  upper  gallery  and  negroes  are  not  admitted 
elsewhere."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  plays  in 
the  English  style  are  "very  coarse  and  their  humor 
is  repulsive  to  French  tastes."  He  also  tells  of 
two  circuses  in  Philadelphia.  We  learn  from 
Robin  that  there  was  a  theatre  at  Annapolis,  but 
he  does  not  favor  us  with  anything  beyond  this 
bare  statement.  Beauj our  says:  " Their  national 
dramas,  like  Bunker  Hill  and  Major  Andre,  do 
not  give  one  a  high  idea  of  their  theatre." 

Another  interesting  feature  of  city  life  into 
which  unfortunately  they  also  give  us  but  few 
glimpses  is  that  of  clubs.  Chastellux  speaks  of 
one  in  Boston:  ''This  assembly  was  held  every 
Tuesday  in  rotation  at  the  houses  of  the  differ 
ent  members  who  composed  it.  On  the  day  in 
question  it  was  at  Mr.  Russel's,  a  worthy  mer 
chant  who  entertained  us  admirably.  The  rules 
of  this  club  are  not  burdensome — they  only  limit 
the  number  of  courses  served  at  supper,  but  two 
of  meat  being  allowed,  for  supper  is  not  the  im 
portant  meal  of  the  Americans.  Vegetables, 
pyes  and  especially  good  wine  are  not  spared. 
They  assemble  after  teatime,  play,  converse, 
read  the  public  papers,  and  sit  down  to  table 
between  nine  and  ten.  The  supper  was  as  in 
formal  as  if  no  strangers  had  been  present.  Songs 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

were  sung  at  table  and  a  certain  Mr.  Steward 
sang  some  pretty  good  ones  and  that  too  with 
rather  a  fine  voice."  This  was  not  the  only 
club  in  Boston,  as  we  learn  from  Brissot,  who 
also  recounts  a  visit  paid  to  the  one  just  de 
scribed — "there  are  several  clubs  in  Boston. 
Monsieur  Chastellux  speaks  of  a  private  club 
which  was  held  once  a  week,  to  which  he  was 
invited.  I  also  have  been  there  several  times 
and  have  always  been  intensely  pleased  with  the 
cordiality  of  its  members  to  strangers,  and  the 
information  which  they  display  in  their  conver 
sation.  This  club  consists  of  only  sixteen  mem 
bers.  To  join,  one  must  be  unanimously  elected. 
Each  member  can  bring  one  stranger  with  him. 
The  meetings  are  held  in  turn  at  the  members' 
houses.  These  clubs  no  longer  hold  their  meet 
ings  in  taverns,  which  is  a  good  thing, — one 
drinks  less  and  spends  less.  Madeira  is  worth 
four  Boston  shillings  a  bottle  at  the  merchants' 
—at  the  tavern  it  costs  six."  Chastellux  also 
makes  brief  mention  of  a  club  which  he  happened 
upon  at  Salem:  "Stopped  at  Good-hue's  inn. 
There  was  held  in  this  inn  a  sort  of  merchants' 
club.  Two  or  three  of  its  members  came  to  see 
me."  Although  hardly  a  club,  Bayard  tells  of 
an  edifice  which  served  as  a  centre  for  social 
gatherings:  "At  Frederick-town  almost  all  the 
houses  are  of  brick,  but  the  only  public  building 

[42] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

worthy  of  notice  is  the  Common  House.  The 
children  go  there  to  enjoy  the  innocent  pleasures 
of  youth.  This  building  is  square  in  form;  it 
has  a  small  dome,  and  a  peristyle  supported  by 
Tuscan  columns." 

Let  us  set  out  with  our  French  friends  on  a 
"grand  tour"  of  our  cities,  but,  as  already  re 
marked,  we  must  be  prepared  for  strange  differ 
ences  between  their  order  of  importance  then  and 
now.  New  York,  instead  of  coming  first,  must 
be  postponed  till  toward  the  close  of  our  itinerary 
because  its  occupation  by  the  English  during  the 
Revolution  prevented  its  being  so  well  known  to 
the  Frenchmen  as  our  other  towns.  Washington 
must  come  last  of  all  because,  before  1792,  almost 
at  the  end  of  the  period  we  are  studying,  it  either 
did  not  exist  at  all,  or  else  only  in  the  brain  of 
L'Enfant,  the  French  engineer,  who  drew  its 
ground  plan.  We  must  begin  with  Philadelphia 
not  only  because  of  its  relative  importance  in 
size,  but  also  because  it  was  so  long  the  seat 
of  the  Federal  Government.  Next  shall  come 
Charleston,  the  great  city  of  the  South,  due  in 
a  measure  to  its  being  a  convenient  port  of  ar 
rival  for  westward-bound  ships  sailing  by  way 
of  the  Azores  to  avoid  the  Gulf  Stream  and 
the  easterly  trade-winds  of  the  North  Atlantic. 
Then  we  shall  go  north  to  Boston,  the  metrop 
olis  of  New  England,  and  from  thence  progress 
[43] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

gradually  south  and  west  through  Newport,  Provi 
dence,  and  Hartford  to  New  Haven.  Next  shall 
come  the  interesting  Dutch  city  (for  so  it  seemed 
to  the  French)  of  Albany,  and  after  it  we  shall 
see  Baltimore,  then  known  for  its  surprisingly 
rapid  growth.  Finally,  we  shall  visit  New  York 
and  Washington. 

And  now  for  Philadelphia,  the  capital  city  of 
the  young  republic,  and  what  a  splendid  first 
impression  we  shall  have  as  we  march  in  with 
the  French  army  on  its  way  south  to  strike 
the  death-blow  to  English  hopes  at  Yorktown ! 
Every  street  is  gaily  decorated,  the  City  Fathers 
come  out  to  meet  us,  the  air  rings  with  welcome 
to  the  gallant  friends  from  across  the  sea.  The 
eager  hope  of  a  glorious  triumph  soon  to  come  is 
felt  and  seen  on  every  side.  "Count  Rocham- 
beau's  army,"  says  Mandrillon,  "halted  half  a 
mile  outside  the  city,  and  the  soldiers,  seizing  the 
opportunity  to  spruce  themselves  up,  in  a  twink 
ling  of  an  eye  appeared  as  neat  as  for  a  review 
in  barracks.  This  was  a  day  of  triumph  for  the 
soldiers  as  well  as  for  the  spectators.  The 
streets  of  Philadelphia  overflowed  with  people, 
and  the  fair  sex  were  all  attired  in  their  most 
beautiful  finery.  The  French  troops  marched  all 
the  way  through  the  city,  preceded  by  martial 
music,  which  added  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  pa 
rade.  There  was  no  end  to  the  admiration  ex- 

[44] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

pressed  for  the  neatness  of  the  soldiers,  as  well  as 
for  the  proper  pride  of  their  bearing,  whilst  they, 
noticing  the  generous  applause,  naturally  appro 
priated  part  of  it  to  themselves.  After  pass 
ing  in  review  before  Congress  and  the  French 
Minister,  the  troops  went  into  camp  on  a  large 
plain  by  the  Schulkill."  "Congress  was  in  ses 
sion  as  we  marched  through  the  city,"  says  Deux- 
Ponts,  "we  paid  it  the  honors  which  the  King 
had  ordered  us  to  pay  it.  The  Thirteen  Mem 
bers  took  off  their  thirteen  hats  at  each  salute  of 
the  flags  and  of  the  officers."  "And  in  the  eve 
ning  while  we  are  enjoying  the  banquet  of  80 
covers  given  by  the  French  Minister,  Chevalier 
de  la  Luzerne,  there  is  announced  [says  Blan- 
chard]  the  splendid  news  that  Admiral  de  Grasse 
has  reached  Chesapeake  Bay  with  28  ships  and 
3,000  men.  Outside  the  residence  of  the  popular 
diplomat  the  streets  are  crowded  with  people 
shouting  for  joy." 

"Next  day  [says  Mandrillon]  the  Soisson  Regi 
ment  went  through  firing  exercise.  The  scene  was 
embellished  by  20,000  persons  and  many  elegant 
equipages.  The  picturesque  beauty  of  the  locality, 
the  serenity  of  the  day,  and  the  glitter  of  arms  all 
conspired  to  make  it  a  brilliant  spectacle." 

It  is  no  wonder  that  after  so  hearty  a  greeting 
many  of  the  French  were  disposed  to  record  friendly 
pictures  of  life  in  that  fine  old  town,  nor  were  any 
[i45] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Europeans  better  equipped  than  they  to  appreciate 
the  comfort  and  refinement  of  the  life  there  en 
joyed.  Bayard  comments  with  a  note  of  surprise 
upon  the  social  attainments  of  certain  of  their 
ladies,  saying  they  would  have  been  considered 
remarkable  even  at  the  witty  and  brilliant  French 
court.  Chastellux  frequently  expresses  his  satis 
faction  with  Philadelphia  society,  congenial  to 
even  so  accomplished  a  courtier  as  he.  Side  by 
side  with  this  gayer  life  of  the  capital  were  to  be 
found  the  Quakers,  the  backbone  of  the  colony. 
This  contrast  of  two  types  of  American  citizen 
ship  aroused  no  jarring  note.  So  far  from  blaming 
the  Quakers  for  the  gravity  of  demeanor  preva 
lent  in  Philadelphia,  Baron  Closen  alleges  that 
the  seriousness  of  Philadelphia  women  is  due  to 
Congress  holding  its  sessions  there.  The  effect 
of  Congress  upon  polite  society  must  have  changed, 
because  no  such  indictment,  so  far  as  the  author 
knows,  is  nowadays  brought  against  the  women 
of  Washington.  Beaujour,  on  the  other  hand, 
shifts  the  blame  back  from  Congress  on  to  the 
Quakers:  "All  the  streets  look  alike  and  so  do 
all  the  houses;  nothing  could  be  gloomier  than 
this  uniformity  unless  it  be  the  sadness  of  the 
inhabitants,  most  of  whom  are  Quakers  or  Puri 
tans."  Chateaubriand,  too,  found  the  city  "cold 
and  monotonous,"  and  disliked  the  dead  level  of 
the  housetops  unbroken  by  those  "towers  which 

[46] 


28 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

crown  European  cities."  Those  who  even  to-day 
would  reproach  Philadelphia  for  its  "sabbath 
calm"  should  be  reminded  that  the  Due  de 
Lauzun  found  it  so  noisy  that  he  was  obliged  to 
take  refuge  at  Newport. 

The  general  neatness  of  the  city  particularly 
pleased  Perrin  du  Lac:  "The  cleanliness  of  the 
house  fronts  adds  to  their  beauty.  Saturdays  are 
regularly  devoted  to  washing  them  down  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  the  doorsteps  and  side  walls  are 
sponged  off  as  carefully  as  the  interiors  of  the 
dwellings."  Although  Segur  has  many  flattering 
things  to  say  of  the  cleanliness  of  the  city,  the 
simple  elegance  of  its  houses,  and  the  easy  circum 
stances  of  its  population,  he  regrets  that  there  are 
no  promenades  or  public  gardens,  and  so  does  de 
Broglie.  Chastellux  also  complains  of  this  same 
defect:  "It  is  so  lacking  in  all  which  serves  to 
make  life  pleasant  that  there  is  not  even  a  single 
public  promenade."  Perhaps  we  shall  not  feel  so 
distressed  in  this  regard  as  were  Segur  and  Chas 
tellux  after  we  have  read  in  St.  Mery  that  "all 
American  women  are  pretty,  but  those  of  Phila 
delphia  most  so;  thousands  of  them  between  four 
teen  and  eighteen  years  old  are  to  be  found  on  a 
winter's  day  on  the  north  side  of  Market  Street 
from  three  to  five.  At  least  four  hundred  of  those 
young  persons  are  pretty  enough  to  be  followed 
about  if  they  took  a  walk  in  Paris."  Although 

[4?] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Talleyrand  arrived  in  Philadelphia  full  of  disgust 
for  the  novelties  which  generally  interest  trav 
ellers,  he  was  very  much  taken  with  this  city, 
and  admires  its  harbor  crowded  with  vessels,  the 
wide,  tree-bordered  avenues,  well-built  brick 
houses,  often  with  white  marble  fronts,  the 
"monumental  exchange,"  the  luxurious  shops, 
"as  well  stocked  as  those  of  Paris  or  London," 
but  he  agrees  with  La  Rochefoucauld  that  living 
there  is  too  high.  It  was  in  this  town  that  on 
May  16,  1794,  Talleyrand  signed  for  its  mayor, 
Matthew  Clarkson,  the  required  oath  of  fidelity 
to  the  governments  both  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  United  States,  promising  never  to  "commit 
any  act  prejudicial  to  their  liberty  and  inde 
pendence,"  a  heavy  draft  on  the  future  by  a 
man  destined  to  be  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
for  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

Most  of  the  Frenchmen  spent  so  much  time  in 
Philadelphia,  and  made  so  many  comments  upon 
its  life  that  we  have  ample  material  from  which  to 
prepare  a  synopsis  of  their  conclusions.  The  prob 
lem  is  not  to  find  enough  quotable  passages,  but  to 
select  those  sufficiently  brief  for  our  purpose.  Let 
us  turn  to  Brissot :  "  Philadelphia  may  be  regarded 
as  the  metropolis  of  the  United  States;  it  is  cer 
tainly  the  handsomest  and  the  best  built  city.  It 
has  more  wealth,  although  less  luxury.  There  are 
to  be  found  there  more  educated  men,  more  with 
[48] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

political  and  literary  knowledge,  and  more  polit 
ical  and  learned  societies.  There  are  many  other 
cities  in  America  of  greater  age;  although  of 
more  recent  date  Philadelphia  has  not  delayed  to 
surpass  its  older  brothers."  He  gives  as  reasons 
for  the  prosperity  of  Philadelphia  its  location  on 
a  navigable  river,  the  country  behind  it,  and  also 
the  climate — "less  cold  than  in  the  northern 
states,  less  warm  and  suffocating  than  that  of  the 
southern  states,  offers  still  further  considerable 
attraction.  But  I  firmly  believe  it  is  not  only 
to  these  physical  advantages  that  Pennsylvania 
owes  its  prosperity, — it  is  to  the  private  manners 
of  its  inhabitants  and  to  the  universal  tolerance 
which  has  been  known  and  practised  there  since 
its  beginning."  Mandrillon,  de  Broglie,  du  Bourg, 
and  Chastellux  comment  on  the  sidewalks  every 
where  provided  for  the  comfort  of  foot-passen 
gers,  "like  London,"  says  the  latter.  At  the 
same  time  that  Brissot  tells  us  that  there  were 
no  cafes  in  Philadelphia,  he  gives  us  a  peep  be 
neath  the  surface  when  he  says  that  Philadelphia 
is  like  Europe  in  its  loose  living. 

Much  has  already  been  learned  of  Philadelphia 
life  from  the  chapter  on  Society,  because  it  was  in 
that  city  and  in  Boston  that  the  foreigners  seemed 
chiefly  to  have  pursued  their  studies  in  that  con 
genial  field.  So  important  was  Philadelphia  at 
that  time,  not  only  to  the  entire  confederation  of 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  colonies,  but  especially  to  Pennsylvania,  that 
it  absorbed  almost  all  the  urban  population  any 
where  about.  Even  Pittsburg,  now  so  famous 
both  at  home  and  abroad  through  its  steel  trade, 
is  dismissed  by  Brissot  with  "it  is  a  pity  that 
Pittsburg  is  not  larger  and  more  populated." 
Those  defects  would  seem  to  have  been  rectified. 
Even  as  late  as  1796  General  Collot  found  only 
one  hundred  and  fifty  houses  in  Pittsburg.  He 
thought  it  strange  that  although  the  Pittsburgers 
dwelt  in  the  midst  of  forests  they  preferred  to 
burn  coal,  and  he  noted  that  it  was  cheaper  to 
send  coal  to  Baltimore  than  to  Philadelphia: 
"And  yet  twice  as  many  waggons  come  here  from 
Philadelphia  as  from  Baltimore." 

Charleston,  South  Carolina,  will  be  our  next 
point,  for  it  would  be  lacking  in  respect  to  our 
beloved  Lafayette  did  we  not  promptly  acknowl 
edge  the  importance  then  enjoyed  by  that  city 
which  gave  him  his  first  impressions  of  the  land 
he  was  so  greatly  to  befriend.  Let  us  see  what 
effect  was  produced  upon  him  by  the  courteous 
and  luxurious  folk  of  that  metropolis  of  the  South: 
14  The  city  of  Charleston  is  one  of  the  prettiest, 
best  built,  and  most  agreeably  peopled  that  I 
have  ever  seen."  He  praises  the  women,  the 
fraternal  feelings  of  the  men,  the  lack  of  poor 
people,  and  even  the  inn  at  which  he  stopped. 
He  complains,  however,  of  sitting  five  hours  at  a 
[i5o] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

banquet  given  in  his  honor.  "This  charming  city 
is  worthy  of  its  inhabitants  and  everything  there 
announces  ease  of  circumstance  and  refinement." 
The  day  after  his  arrival  was  fine.  The  novelty 
of  everything  around  him,  his  room,  the  bed  with 
its  mosquito-netting,  the  black  servants  who 
came  to  serve  him,  the  beauty  and  the  foreign 
appearance  of  the  country,  covered  with  rich 
vegetation  which  he  saw  from  the  windows,  all 
conspired  to  produce  upon  Lafayette  a  magical 
effect,  and  to  excite  in  him  inexpressible  sensa 
tions:  "All  the  people  with  whom  I  had  wished 
to  make  acquaintance  here  have  overwhelmed 
me  with  politeness  and  attentions,  nor  is  it  the 
politeness  of  Europe.  I  have  only  praise  for  the 
reception  which  I  have  had  here."  Of  the  charm 
and  wealth  of  Charleston  at  that  time,  Crevecceur 
is,  perhaps,  the  best  historian:  "An  European 
upon  his  arrival  must  be  greatly  surprised  when 
he  sees  the  elegance  of  their  houses,  their  sumptu 
ous  furniture  as  well  as  the  magnificence  of  their 
tables — can  he  believe  himself  in  a  country  whose 
establishment  is  so  recent!  The  inhabitants  are 
the  gayest  in  America;  it  is  known  as  the  centre 
of  our  beau  monde,  and  is  always  filled  with  the 
richest  planters  of  the  province  who  resort  hither  in 
quest  of  health  and  pleasure.  The  round  of  gaiety 
and  the  expenditures  upon  these  citizens'  tables 
are  much  superior  to  what  you  would  imagine; 
[  161  ] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

indeed,  the  growth  of  this  town  and  province  has 
been  astonishingly  rapid.  It  is  a  pity  that  the 
narrowness  of  the  neck  on  which  it  stands  pre 
vents  it  from  expanding,  which  is  the  reason  why 
houses  are  so  dear.  Charlestown  is  in  the  North 
what  Lima  is  in  the  South;  both  are  capitals  of 
the  richest  provinces  of  their  respective  hemi 
spheres.  You  may,  therefore,  conjecture  that 
both  cities  exhibit  the  aspect  necessarily  produced 
by  wealth.  Carolina  produces  commodities  more 
valuable  perhaps  than  gold,  because  they  are 
gained  by  greater  industry;  it  shows  also  on  our 
northern  stage  a  display  of  riches  and  luxury  in 
ferior  indeed  to  Lima,  but  far  superior  to  that 
seen  in  our  northern  towns."  Due  de  La  Roche 
foucauld  remarks  with  surprise  that  all  Charles 
ton  men  over  fifty  have  white  hair.  Let  us  hope 
this  phenomenon  did  not  result  from  the  gay  life 
charged  against  them  by  Crevecceur.  Mandril- 
Ion  was  as  optimistic  as  to  its  future,  as  he  was 
pleased  with  its  present:  "It  is  Charles-town,  the 
capital  of  the  colony,  which  is  really  the  impor 
tant  market,  and  which  will  necessarily  be  more 
and  more  so.  It  has  straight  streets,  most  of 
them  wide,  two  thousand  comfortable  houses,  and 
some  public  buildings  which  would  pass  for  hand 
some  even  in  Europe." 

Boston,    called   by   Bourgeois    "the   best-built 
city  of  the  New  World,"  enjoyed  as  great  im- 

[152] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

portance  in  the  North  as  Charleston  in  the  South. 
It  is  easy  to  gather  from  the  pages  of  Segur  why 
the  French  were  so  fond  of  the  capital  of  Massa 
chusetts:  "Boston,  which  has  now  for  a  long 
time  flourished  because  of  its  commerce,  appears 
like  the  ancestor  of  the  other  American  cities,  and 
at  the  time  that  I  was  there  was  exactly  like  some 
old  and  large  city  in  England.  Democracy  has 
in  no  wise  banished  luxury  from  it.  In  no  part 
of  the  United  States  does  one  see  such  ease  of 
circumstances,  or  more  agreeable  society.  Europe 
offers  for  our  admiration  no  prettier  or  more 
elegant,  better  bred  or  more  talented  women  than 
those  of  Boston,  like  Mrs.  Jarvis,  Smith,  Tudor, 
Morton."  Prince  de  Broglie  also  gives  a  list  of 
the  Boston  ladies  who  especially  met  with  his 
approval,  including  Mrs.  Jervis  (with  a  jealous 
husband!),  Mrs.  Smith  whose  house  was  one  of 
the  most  agreeable  in  town,  Mrs.  Tudor  the  most 
greatly  admired  of  all,  Mrs.  Temple,  Mrs.  Morton, 
Mrs.  de  Aloys,  and  Miss  Polly  Seiff,  all  of  them 
"very  pretty!"  As  a  proof  of  the  luxury  dis 
played  in  this  city  possessing  "a  large  number 
of  well-to-do  folk,  and  a  few  very  rich  merchants," 
he  cites  their  fine  wines,  napkins  on  the  table, 
everybody  drinking  out  of  a  glass  of  his  own,  and 
most  surprising  of  all — your  plate  changed  when 
ever  you  wished !  The  Boston  women,  says  he, 
"are  carefully  dressed,  but  without  taste,  and  do 
[i53] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

not  understand  how  to  arrange  their  hair.  Some 
have  a  knowledge  of  music  and  play  several  in 
struments  agreeably;  they  sing  rather  monoto 
nously — a  mixture  of  English  and  Italian  methods 
which  is  very  sweet  when  the  voice  is  a  pretty 
one."  Mandrillon  finds  the  city  quite  like  Lon 
don:  "There  is  no  town  in  America  which  is  so 
advantageously  situated  for  commerce  as  Boston. 
It  had,  before  the  troubles,  thirty-five  or  forty 
thousand  inhabitants  of  different  sects.  The  ac 
commodation,  the  furniture,  clothing,  food,  con 
versation,  manners,  and  customs  resemble  so 
strongly  those  of  London  that  it  was  difficult  to 
find  there  anything  different  to  that  which  al 
ways  attracts  an  excessive  population  of  great 
capitals."  Beaujour  agrees  that  "their  public 
buildings  either  surpass  or  at  least  equal  the 
magnificence  of  those  in  Europe."  The  frank 
Blanchard  comments  that  "there  are  also  some 
poor  quarters  which  give  Boston  a  less  modern 
appearance  than  Philadelphia  and  other  Ameri 
can  cities."  Deux-Ponts  especially  liked  Boston, 
"which  in  no  wise  resembles  the  other  American 
cities  whose  plans  were  prepared  with  foresight." 
Abbe  Robin  has  much  to  say  of  this  metropolis 
of  New  England.  It  is  from  him  we  learn  that 
there  "the  rich  cover  their  floors  with  woollen 
or  woven  carpets,  the  others  with  fine  sand." 
Cromot  du  Bourg  also  goes  into  some  interesting 

[i54] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

details:  "The  city  of  Boston  is  built  as  are  most 
English  cities, — very  small  houses  of  brick  or 
wood,  extremely  clean  inside.  The  inhabitants 
live  absolutely  in  English  fashion.  They  appear 
a  worthy  folk,  and  affable.  I  have  been  very 
well  received  during  the  few  visits  I  made.  They 
take  a  great  deal  of  tea  in  the  morning.  Dinner, 
which  is  generally  at  two  o'clock,  is  composed  of 
a  great  quantity  of  meat.  They  eat  very  little 
bread.  About  five  o'clock  they  take  more  tea, 
some  wine,  madeira,  punch,  and  this  ceremony 
lasts  until  ten  o'clock.  Then  they  sit  down  at 
table  and  have  a  supper  which  is  less  consider 
able  than  dinner.  At  each  meal  they  take  off 
the  cloth  for  dessert  and  bring  on  fruit.  Most  of 
their  time  is  devoted  to  the  table.  .  .  .  During 
the  morning  of  May  7th,  I  saw  as  much  of  the 
town  as  was  possible.  It  is  very  large  and  still 
shows  that  before  the  War  it  must  have  been  a 
delightful  place  to  stay.  It  is  in  the  prettiest 
position  possible,  and  has  a  superb  port."  "One 
would  think  himself  in  a  fine  European  city," 
says  Bourgeois;  "the  cafes,  newspapers,  prome 
nades,  carriages, — the  continuous  arriving  of  an 
infinite  number  of  vessels  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  all  proclaim  this  to  be  an  important  cap 
ital  and  the  distributing  point  of  a  widely  differ 
entiated  commerce." 

Brissot  pitches  his  remarks  upon  Boston  in  so 
[i55] 


F1LE>  "3 


*     f*  3&H:  nn?  vrmtt  "rtnr 

zr  si  nanr8*^  ITXC  its-  ns-aira:  CJHHIII:CL 
EIIW  I  trw-rst  u  ^naa-r  n  "Oiir  ifinr 
urn**    vniMm    Jtruss    >!fn3sr    lit* 
ESEL  IE  iisani.  n  "Hi*  mir^  ic  Tinaw 
wx  3ie  JH!  nt?  IT-MULT^  if  in?  .-jn 
jutt   rmrrcfi.     HJW   I  —  iiirf^t  m*   uti^Trp    :c 
isiii^  mit  "Ht?  -sake* 
L^iiiiiv.i-^iiifte  mil  n:isr"  z«sc-je 
me.  B:  iJ.  "HiH:  mje^t^    IHF;     -**ii^r-5:r- 
ar    viii^i    3anjLTt-^z^§    IT-     -:niEit- 
H:  nl  Ht*  iriB:»niid 


1    II    n*rrn  —     ii  nta.   «TJL!   ^^tizs-'I  UttST    i 

HI   «p«r    mrj   jma*^^   ux*i  j*rrruH^  n   a 

*aar    i^T8*^    ^IF81    "Hi*     3iim*T«'T    I£ 

sal   n  is   !ntdt*,   anr   wouLa.  *^^i  n  is 


11  w^r    am  ^^  33  run- 

^~     r    T*J!*  nir  ~.-*c  i*^?t   HIT   i 

•'     ^"'   '-  "     "--    :•  ••- 


:    T^ 


isis   11-C2?'    i:   -Tr^ 

ant  is-  fc  snnnii^r  Bmsr  of 


mat  mtt  sn^stt  in-ar  cs: 
vrfir**^.  nsarr  af  ntfai  Trety  inon.  * 
nf  LJHIS-  jL  %  "I.  siuHMr  is?'**  ^D^r^fSL  Is 
1157^  I*ir  wiia;  sCTk*  is  a--  IBBHK:  i 
aranmr  of  1^ 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

left  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  city  of  Newport, 
well  built,  with  straight  streets,  contained  a 
numerous  population  whose  easy  circumstances 
proclaimed  their  happiness.  Charming  meetings 
took  place  there  between  enlightened  men  of  dis 
tinction  and  pretty  women  whose  talents  embel 
lished  their  charms.  The  names  and  the  graces 
of  Miss  Champlain,  the  two  Misses  Hunter,  and 
several  others  have  remained  graven  upon  the 
memory  of  all  the  French  officers."  Prince  de 
Broglie  makes  a  delightful  comparison  between 
the  various  charming  daughters  of  Newport,  set 
ting  off  Miss  Champlain  of  the  beautiful  eyes 
against  the  Misses  Hunter,  "her  rivals  in  beauty 
and  reputation,"  but  preferring  the  former — • 
"no  matter  what  Fersen  says  about  it,"  thus 
showing  that  the  question  was  seriously  debated 
by  the  French  officers.  But  Polly  Leyton,  the 
Quakeress,  "a  masterpiece  of  nature,"  enchanted 
them  all  by  her  simple  graces, — "every  time  I 
think  of  her,"  says  de  Broglie,  "I  decide  to  write 
a  huge  volume  against  the  dress,  artificial  airs  and 
coquetry  of  certain  ladies  whom  fashion  admires." 
These  and  other  fair  ones,  like  Miss  Spindley  and 
Miss  Sylven  seemed  so  to  regret  the  approaching 
departure  of  the  French  army,  that  it  was  de 
cided  to  give  them  a  ball.  All  the  preparations 
were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Desoteux  Cormatin, 
who  later  fought  for  the  Vendeans  and  signed 
f  i581 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

their  peace  agreement  with  the  republic  (1795), 
and  he  succeeded  in  assembling  twenty  charming 
dames  and  damsels,  and  the  dance  and  accom 
panying  supper  "passed  off  very  agreeably."  "I 
left  Newport  with  regret,"  says  the  Due  de  Lau- 
zun,  "for  I  had  such  an  agreeable  circle  there." 

The  change  for  the  worse  set  in  soon  after  the 
war,  and  so  rapid  was  it  that  the  Newport  seen 
by  Brissot  in  1788  is  unrecognizable  as  the  prede 
cessor  of  the  Newport  of  to-day:  "The  State  of 
Rhode  Island  is  regarded  as  possessing  the  best 
harbors  in  the  United  States,  in  fact  Newport 
seems  destined  by  nature  to  be  a  considerable 
port.  The  harbor  is  good  and  fit  for  the  largest 
vessels.  This  town  played  a  considerable  role  in 
the  last  war.  It  was  then  flourishing.  The  suc 
cessive  sojourns  of  the  American,  English  and 
French  armies  left  a  good  deal  of  money  there. 
All  has  changed  since  the  peace.  The  solitude 
which  reigns  there,  interrupted  only  by  groups  of 
idlers  passing  the  entire  day  with  folded  arms  at 
the  street  corners,  the  dilapidation  of  most  of  the 
houses,  the  miserable  supplies  of  the  shops  which 
display  nothing  but  coarse  stuffs,  packages  of 
matches,  baskets  of  bread,  or  other  cheap  mer 
chandise;  the  grass  growing  in  the  Court  House 
square;  the  badly  paved  and  muddy  streets;  the 
rags  hung  up  at  the  windows,  or  covering  the 
heads  of  women,  the  lank  children,  or  the  pale, 
[i59] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

cadaverous  men  whose  sunken  eyes  and  shifty 
look  make  the  observer  uncomfortable;  all  an 
nounce  misery,  the  reign  of  bad  faith,  and  the 
effects  of  bad  government.  I  visited  the  market 
place.  Heavens,  how  different  from  those  of 
Boston  and  Philadelphia !  Some  mediocre  cuts 
of  meat  awaited  purchasers  who  never  came.  I 
enquired  the  reason  of  an  American  who  was 
well  informed  on  the  local  situation.  He  told 
me  that  most  of  the  inhabitants  lived  on  fish 
which  they  caught  themselves,  on  potatoes,  and 
other  vegetables  which  they  raise  in  their  own 
gardens — few  ate  meat.  The  farmers  no  longer 
send  beef  or  mutton  to  its  markets.  Newport 
seemed  to  me  a  tomb  where  living  skeletons  quar 
relled  over  a  few  herbs.  It  seemed  a  city  in 
which  pestilence  and  fire  had  destroyed  both  the 
inhabitants  and  their  houses."  By  the  time  La 
Rochefoucauld  arrived,  its  worst  days  were  over, 
and  better  ones  already  in  sight:  "Before  the 
Revolutionary  War  there  were  ten  thousand  in 
habitants  at  Newport  while  Providence  had  only 
one  thousand;  to-day  Newport  is  reduced  to  five 
thousand  and  Providence  has  six  or  seven  thou 
sand.  The  cause  of  this  change  is  the  number 
of  rich  people  which  Newport  lost  by  emigration. 
The  families  who  sympathized  with  the  Revolu 
tion  left  the  city  when  the  English  were  in  pos 
session  of  it,  and  are  established  at  Providence, 
[160! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

taking  all  their  goods  and  chattels  there;  and 
those  who  were  attached  to  the  English  cause 
followed  the  English  troops  when  they  were 
forced  to  evacuate  the  Island.  The  political 
troubles  which  for  a  long  time  disturbed  Rhode 
Island  have  prolonged  and  confirmed  this  condi 
tion  of  distress  at  Newport,  and  it  is  only  in  the 
last  two  or  three  years  that  its  commerce  has 
begun  to  pick  up  a  bit.  The  houses  in  Newport 
are  almost  all  small  and  ugly.  They  are  of  wood, 
unpainted.  In  every  respect  this  town  has  all 
the  marks  of  decadence.  The  harbor  is  the 
only  thing  which  shows  any  sign  of  wealth."  It 
is  not  often  that  the  Frenchmen,  ever  prone  to 
make  predictions  concerning  America  and  things 
American,  guessed  so  correctly  as  did  La  Roche 
foucauld  when  he  said:  "Newport  seems  destined 
from  its  advantages  to  be  a  navy-yard  of  the 
United  States,  when  she  has  a  navy." 

Chastellux,  speaking  of  the  days  when  the 
French  army  arrived  at  Newport,  and  that  city 
was  enjoying  a  prosperity  unfortunately  soon  to 
be  blighted,  says  of  its  rival:  "The  city  of  Provi 
dence  is  built  on  the  bank  of  a  river  hardly  six 
miles  in  length.  It  has  only  one  street  but  this 
is  very  long.  The  Fauxbourg,  which  is  pretty 
considerable,  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
This  city  is  pretty.  The  houses  are  not  large  but 
well  built  and  very  comfortable  inside."  When 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Segur  visited  it  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  found 
that  "Providence,  which  ought  at  present  to  be 
a  great  and  populous  city,  could  then  already 
pass  for  a  pretty  little  town.  It  'contained  only 
three  thousand  inhabitants,  but  all  I  think  en 
joyed  comfortable  circumstances  resulting  from 
constant  work  and  active  industry."  Prince  de 
Broglie  gives  a  pretty  picture  of  life  in  Providence, 
while  the  French  army  was  in  quarters  there 
after  Yorktown.  "General  Rochambeau,"  says 
he,  "to  distract  his  army,  and  please  the  ladies," 
gave  several  balls  in  "the  fine  large  public  hall 
destined  for  that  purpose."  At  the  first  one  of 
these  entertainments  de  Broglie  remarked  the 
Misses  Bown,  sisters  of  the  "Governor  of  the 
town,"  whom  he  does  not  describe  because  he 
"did  not  wish  to  turn  all  the  men's  heads,  and 
make  all  the  women  jealous,"  after  which  saga 
cious  phrase  he  proceeds  nevertheless  to  paint 
flattering  portraits  of  them  both.  But  by  the 
time  Brissot  had  reached  America  the  change  had 
come;  "The  silence  which  reigns  on  Sunday  in 
all  American  cities  reigned  also  on  Monday  in 
Providence.  Everything  proclaimed  the  decline 
of  business."  After  this  depression  things  looked 
up  and  we  are  glad  to  read  in  La  Rochefoucauld  of 
the  great  improvement  which  a  little  later  had 
begun  in  this  leading  city  of  Rhode  Island:  "The 
surroundings  of  Providence  are  more  agreeable 
[162! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

than  those  of  Newport  and  give  a  great  idea  of 
the  place.  The  town  occupies  both  banks  of  the 
river.  It  has  two  parts  connected  by  a  well- 
built  bridge.  Its  large,  well-built,  well-painted 
houses  are  very  numerous.  The  streets  are 
paved.  This  town  is  constantly  growing  and  the 
hopes  of  a  more  considerable  growth  are  so  great 
that  streets  and  ground  plans  of  houses  yet  to  be 
built  are  already  laid  out  well  up  the  hillside. 
Commerce,  as  I  have  said,  is  much  more  consid 
erable  in  Providence  than  Newport — four  or  five 
times  more."  He  regrets  that  Providence  as  well 
as  Newport  engages  in  the  odious  slave-trade. 

Hartford  failed,  for  some  reason  or  another,  to 
make  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  French 
men  who  visited  it.  Brissot  was  the  one  who 
had  the  best  things  to  say,  although  his  opening 
sentence  arouses  one's  suspicion  as  to  the  value 
of  his  testimony:  "I  passed  through  Hartford 
twice,  both  times  at  night,  so  that  I  cannot  give 
an  exact  description  of  it.  The  town  appeared  to 
me  a  considerable  one.  It  is  a  rural  city  for  most 
of  the  inhabitants  are  farmers.  Everybody  there 
is  well-to-do.  It  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  in  Connecticut  for  its  society."  He  be 
comes  more  enthusiastic  as  soon  as  he  gets  out 
side  the  city  limits:  "The  country  round  about 
Hartford  is  very  well  cultivated,  and  there  are 
elegant  houses,  large  fields  covered  with  herds  of 
[i63] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

cattle,  which  are  enormously  fat  and  supply  the 
markets  of  New  York  and  even  Philadelphia  etc., 
etc.  In  describing  the  outskirts  of  Hartford  we 
are  at  the  same  time  picturing  all  of  Connecticut, 
and  especially  the  surroundings  of  Middletown 
and  of  New  Haven."  From  the  summary  way 
in  which  Chastellux  disposes  of  this  capital  of 
Connecticut  one  would  think  that  the  pet  of 
American  society  must  have  received  some  severe 
rebuff  there:  "The  city  of  Hartford  is  not  worth 
stopping  for,  either  when  you  are  travelling 
through  it  or  when  you  speak  of  it.  It  consists 
of  one  long  and  very  handsome  street,  parallel  to 
the  river.  It  is  rather  wide  and  the  houses  are 
not  far  apart.  Besides,  it  has  many  annexes. 
Everything  is  Hartford  for  six  leagues  round,  but 
East  Hartford  and  West  Hartford  are  separate 
towns,  and  are  composed  of  houses  scattered 
through  the  country." 

New  Haven  honored  itself  by  electing  to  citi 
zenship  on  September  23,  1784,  certain  of  the 
French  visitors,  and  among  others,  the  Marquis 
of  Condorcet,  which  explains  his  pseudonym,  "A 
citizen  of  New  Heaven"  [sic],  affixed  to  his  four 
letters  which  appear  at  the  end  of  Mazzei's  book 
upon  America.  It  is  no  wonder  the  distinguished 
marquis  fully  appreciated  this  civic  compliment, 
coming  as  it  did  from  the  first  city  to  be  organ 
ized  in  New  England,  and  whose  first  mayor, 
[i64] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Roger  Sherman,  had  served  with  Jefferson  on  the 
committee  to  draft  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.  "There  was  probably  no  place  in  the 
country  from  1786  to  1788  [says  Governor  Bald 
win  in  his  erudite  brochure  on  these  letters  of 
Condorcet]  of  the  size  of  New  Haven,  which 
could  have  furnished  so  many  men  capable  of 
writing  effectively  on  topics  of  constitutional  gov 
ernment,  and  of  treating  them  from  so  many 
points  of  view."  Brissot  was  also  elected  to 
honorary  citizenship,  and,  therefore,  it  is  no  sur 
prise  to  find  that  this  generally  serious  gentleman 
fairly  blossoms  out  when  he  treats  of  New  Haven 
and  assumes  a  style  more  befitting  Chastellux  than 
the  future  leader  of  the  Girondins:  "New  Haven 
yields  not  at  all  to  Weatherfields  in  the  beauty  of 
its  fair  sex.  At  the  balls  which  take  place  there 
during  the  winter  it  is  not  unusual,  despite  Puri 
tan  austerity,  to  witness  a  hundred  charming 
girls  attired  in  those  brilliant  colors  seen  so  sel 
dom  as  you  go  toward  the  middle  states,  and  that, 
too,  dressed  with  simple  elegance."  Notwith 
standing  Brissot's  flight  of  enthusiasm,  we  learn 
from  La  Rochefoucauld  that  "the  fortunes  of  the 
inhabitants  are  modest.  Most  of  them  have 
farms  in  the  neighborhood  from  which  they  draw 
their  provisions;  these  small  estates,  each  ca 
pable  of  supplying  the  needs  of  a  family,  deprive 
market-gardeners  of  a  chance  of  selling  vegetables 
[i65] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

in  New  Haven,  so  they  are  sent  to  New  York. 
Two  rich  merchants  last  year  erected  at  a  large 
cost  a  cotton  factory  two  miles  from  the  town." 
He  goes  on  to  describe  the  place  as  follows:  "The 
city  of  New  Haven  occupies  a  large  area,  for  the 
houses  are  generally  set  well  apart.  Cultivated 
fields  are  to  be  seen  in  the  middle  of  the  town. 
All  the  streets  are  straight  and  cut  each  other  at 
right  angles.  The  houses,  mostly  of  wood,  are 
small  and  pretty.  The  streets  are  planted  with 
trees.  Two  large  edifices  in  brick  belonging  to 
the  college,  a  fine  church,  and  a  State  House  adorn 
the  principal  square,  in  the  midst  of  which,  how 
ever,  there  also  appears  the  gloomy  spectacle  of 
a  cemetery.  The  general  appearance  of  the  town 
is  agreeable.  It  seems  to  be  so  located  that  it 
ought  to  be  healthy,  and  they  say  that  the  mor 
tality  is  lower  than  in  any  other  city  of  the  United 
States."  Mandrillon  gives  as  a  reason  for  its 
commercial  importance  that  "the  port  and  city 
of  New  Haven  are  the  general  rendez-vous  of  the 
colony,  and  it  is  there  that  all  their  business  is 
transacted.  The  city  is  situated  on  the  inden 
tation  of  a  bay  leading  off  the  stretch  of  water 
separating  Long  Island  from  the  mainland.  It 
was  formerly  the  capital  of  a  colony  of  the  same 
name,  but  was  re-united  to  Connecticut  in  1664 
by  a  charter  of  Charles  II.  The  instruction  of 
youth  is  carefully  looked  after  there.  To  this 
[166] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

effect  they  have  founded  a  college  which  is  very 
well  attended.     It  is  called  Yare  [ !]  Hall." 

It  is  well  to  begin  our  account  of  Albany  by 
reciting  the  favorable  impression  it  made  upon 
Chastellux  when  he  first  approached  it,  because 
most  of  the  other  French  comments  are  not  so 
kindly,  due  possibly  to  French  inability  to  appre 
ciate  the  phlegmatic  Dutch  temperament:  "The 
valley  through  which  this  river  [Hudson]  runs, 
and  Albany,  built  in  an  amphitheatre  on  its  west 
ern  bank,  would  have  presented  a  most  agreeable 
prospect  if  snow  had  not  somewhat  disfigured  it. 
A  handsome  house,  built  half-way  up  opposite  the 
ferry,  attracted  one's  attention,  and  seemed  to 
invite  strangers  to  stop  at  General  Schuyler's, 
who  was  both  its  owner  and  architect."  But  alas ! 
this  favorable  first  impression  was  rudely  read 
justed  by  his  annoyance  at  the  celebration  of 
New  Year's  Eve  in  that  otherwise  usually  staid 
and  respectable  city.  Nevertheless,  he  did  not 
fail  to  bear  witness  to  the  dignity  and  poise  which 
apparently  attended  their  form  of  inebriety,  for 
he  reports  that  next  morning  he  met  a  number 
of  drunken  folk  about  the  streets  who  astonished 
him  by  walking  without  slipping  on  the  icy  side 
walks,  whilst  he,  cold  sober,  had  the  greatest  diffi 
culty  in  staying  on  his  legs.  La  Rochefoucauld 
devotes  much  more  attention  to  this  city  than 
any  of  his  compatriots,  as  indeed  but  few  of  them 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

visited  it:  "There  are  in  Albany  six  thousand  in 
habitants,  of  which  two  thousand  are  slaves;  the 
laws  of  New  York  authorize  slavery.  All  the  old 
houses  are  built  in  the  Dutch  fashion.  The  front 
wall  rises  by  a  series  of  steps  in  a  pyramid,  ter 
minated  either  by  a  picturesque  chimney  or  by 
some  iron  figures,  etc.  All  the  houses  built  in 
the  last  ten  years  are  brick,  tall  and  large,  in  the 
English  style.  The  Council  is  composed  at  pres 
ent  of  young  men  who  allege  that  they  are  busy 
embellishing  the  town  and  making  it  comfort 
able,  but  in  this  city  there  is  an  apathy,  an  igno 
rance,  and  antiquity  of  ideas  which  does  not  per 
mit  the  belief  that  these  efforts  will  be  worth 
considering  for  a  long  time.  Young  men  there, 
I  believe,  are  born  old !  There  are  five  churches 
in  Albany,  one  the  Dutch  Lutheran,  a  building  of 
very  Gothic  and  rather  curious  construction,  and 
one  each  of  the  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians, 
German  Calvinists,  and  Methodists.  Hospitality 
to  strangers  does  not  seem  to  be  the  dominating 
quality  of  the  citizens  of  Albany.  The  few  that 
we  have  seen  are  dull,  heavy,  live  at  home  with  a 
wife  sometimes  pretty,  often  awkward,  to  whom 
they  do  not  say  thirty  words  a  day  although  they 
call  her  'my  dear.'  There  are  doubtless  excep 
tions  both  in  the  charms  of  the  ladies  and  in  the 
easy  and  confiding  manner  of  their  husbands  with 
them,  but  they  are  said  to  be  rare.  The  ancient 
[168] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

forms,  the  old,  circumspect  and  timidly  avari 
cious  customs  of  the  early  Dutch  are  religiously 
preserved  in  Albany."  He  says  they  are  so  apa 
thetic  that  Connecticut  is  getting  the  new  West 
Indies  trade  away  from  them,  and  two  important 
cities  built  in  their  immediate  neighborhood  at  New 
City  and  Troy,  also,  by  superior  enterprise,  are 
cutting  into  their  commerce.  "Albany  is  one  of 
the  most  ancient  establishments  of  North  America. 
Forty-five  ships  belonging  to  its  inhabitants  and 
forty-five  others  to  New  York  or  other  places  along 
the  river  supply  the  commerce  of  Albany,  which  is 
steady  but  does  not  seem  lucrative." 

Most  of  the  French  travellers  passed  through 
Baltimore  at  one  tune  or  another,  and  all  agreed 
in  speaking  of  its  rapid  growth  and  active,  bus 
tling  appearance.  Beaujour  says  that  it  is  one 
of  those  American  cities  whose  walls  were  raised 
as  if  by  enchantment  through  foreign  trade,  and 
includes  it  in  his  list  of  three  (with  Boston  and 
Philadelphia)  whose  people  do  not  die  content 
unless  they  have  changed  their  profession  three 
or  four  times  during  their  lives.  Several  years 
before  his  visit  there  came  to  it,  in  1781,  Abbe 
Robin,  who  observes  "Baltimore  thirty  years  ago 
was  only  a  little  village,  but  to-day  it  is  a  large 
and  wealthy  city.  Its  form  is  that  of  a  crescent. 
The  northern  part  seems  to  rise  from  the  bosom 
of  the  waters  and  to  forecast  its  future  greatness. 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Lord  Baltimore,  an  Irish  Catholic,  established 
two  hundred  Catholics  in  Maryland  and  gave  his 
name  to  this  city."  "It  is  of  considerable  size," 
remarked  du  Bourg,  "and  well-built — it  even  has 
sidewalks!"  From  Brissot,  who  went  there  in 
1788,  we  learn:  "Baltimore  has  about  two  thou 
sand  houses  and  fourteen  thousand  inhabitants. 
It  is  very  irregularly  built  and  on  land  slightly 
raised  above  the  Patabsco.  There  is  stagnant 
water  in  the  city,  few  of  the  streets  are  paved, 
and  are  frightfully  muddy  after  a  rain.  All  this 
would  seem  to  prove  the  air  unhealthy,  neverthe 
less,  ask  the  inhabitants  and  they  will  tell  you 
that  it  is  not.  Baltimore  was  only  a  village  be 
fore  the  war."  In  1791  Chateaubriand  found 
Baltimore  "a  pretty  city,  very  clean  and  very 
bustling,"  although  his  stay  there  was  but  a 
brief  one,  only  long  enough  to  pay  the  captain  of 
his  ship  for  bringing  him  from  Europe,  and  to 
give  him  "a  farewell  dinner  in  an  excellent  tavern 
near  the  harbor."  He  then  straightway  engaged 
a  seat  in  the  stage  which  ran  tri-weekly  to  Phila 
delphia,  and  which  started  for  that  city  at  the 
convenient  hour  of  four  the  next  morning !  St. 
Mery,  who  landed  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and 
passed  through  Baltimore  in  May,  1794,  on  his 
way  to  Philadelphia,  makes  sundry  significant 
comments:  "Baltimore  is  growing  rapidly  and 
is  elegantly  constructed  with  brick  houses  mostly 
[170] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

two  stories  high,  fine  sidewalks  in  front  of  them, 
some  of  which  are  ten  feet  wide  (but  entrances 
to  cellars  take  up  half);  straight,  well-paved 
streets;  street  lamps  here,  as  is  generally  cus 
tomary  in  America;  population  ten  thousand,  of 
which  ten  per  cent  are  negroes;  twelve  churches 
of  ten  sects  and  one  theatre.  The  hotels  lend 
you  slippers  so  that  your  boots  or  shoes  will  be 
found  clean  outside  the  door  in  the  morning." 

Of  all  the  cities  in  our  country,  none  have 
changed  so  much  as  New  York  since  it  was  vis 
ited  by  the  Frenchmen  after  the  English  had 
evacuated  it.  As  it  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  latter  during  the  war,  the  French  who  came 
over  to  fight  did  not  have  a  fair  opportunity  to 
compare  it  with  our  other  cities,  but  those  who 
came  a  few  years  later  found  it  quite  different 
from  its  sisters.  Milfort  found  New  Yorkers  "very 
affable  and  hospitable.  They  receive  strangers 
kindly."  Pontgibaud says:  "My  surprise  equalled 
my  curiosity  when  I  entered  New  York.  I  ad 
mired — from  within,  this  time — this  handsome 
city  which  had  then  but  twenty-five  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  the  beautiful  neighboring  island 
called  Long  Island.  I  was  delighted  with  all  I 
saw — the  elegance  and  cleanliness  of  the  houses 
added  to  the  beauties  of  virgin  nature."  Chateau 
briand  describes  New  York  as  "a  gay,  populous, 
and  commercial  city"— this  was  in  1791.  The 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

captious  Beaujour  actually  unbends  enough  to 
praise  it:  "New  York  has  a  more  smiling  ap 
pearance  than  Philadelphia,  and  more  closely  re 
sembles  an  European  city.  It  is  built  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson  on  a  tongue  of  land  which 
stretches  between  the  river  and  Long  Island  Sound 
and  which  has  been  detached  by  a  cutting  from 
the  mainland.  The  esplanade  called  'The  Bat 
tery,'  located  at  the  sharp  angle  formed  by  the 
meeting  of  the  Hudson  and  the  sea,  affords  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  views  in  the  world."  Its 
delightful  situation  particularly  impressed  Bonnet, 
who  concluded  that  "a  sojourn  in  New  York  is 
good  for  the  health." 

Brissot  gives  us  an  account  of  how  the  city's  busi 
ness  reverses,  sustained  during  and  after  the  Revo 
lutionary  War,  were  being  recouped:  "Men  who 
doubt  the  prodigious  effect  of  liberty  upon  man 
and  his  industry  should  go  to  America, — of  what 
miracles  will  they  be  witnesses !  While  almost 
everywhere  in  Europe  towns  and  cities  are  falling 
into  ruins,  here  new  buildings  are  going  up  on 
all  sides.  New  York  has  been  partly  consumed 
by  fire  since  the  last  war,  but  the  traces  of  this 
terrible  conflagration  are  fast  disappearing.  The 
activity  which  reigns  everywhere  proclaims  that 
prosperity  has  already  begun.  Everywhere  they 
are  broadening  and  extending  the  streets."  He 
describes  new  buildings  that  are  going  up,  and 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

how  they  reclaimed  a  two-hundred-foot  strip  of 
fend  along  the  North  River.  "I  see  nothing  but 
workmen  marking  out  lots,  building,  paving, 
constructing  public  works.  They  are  erecting  a 
building  for  Congress  and  repairing  a  hospital. 
The  high  cost  of  living  is  generally  on  the  increase 
in  New  York  since  the  war."  He  gives  legal  fees, 
doctors'  fees,  the  cost  of  board  and  lodging,  and 
adds  that  there  are  no  cafes  in  New  York.  Much 
as  he  prefers  Philadelphia,  he  cannot  help  no 
ticing  that  building  in  that  city  is  going  on  less 
slowly  than  in  New  York. 

Mandrillon  does  not  agree  that  New  York  was  a 
bustling  place — he  even  called  us  lazy!  "New 
York,  an  important  town,  known  to-day  (as  is  the 
entire  colony)  under  the  name  of  New  York,  has 
lost  much  of  its  importance  and  prosperity  since 
the  last  Revolution.  Although  the  streets  are  ir 
regular,  the  city  does  not  for  that  reason  present  a 
less  interesting  appearance,  because  of  the  gen 
eral  cleanliness  which  reigns  there.  The  houses, 
built  of  brick  and  roofed  with  tiles,  are  more 
comfortable  than  elegant.  Everyone  is  well-to- 
do,  food  is  abundant,  of  excellent  quality  and 
cheap.  The  poorest  class  of  people  have  an  as 
sured  support  from  the  oyster-fisheries,  which 
employ  two  hundred  boats.  It  is  perhaps  to  this 
general  ease  of  circumstances  that  is  due  the  in 
difference  and  laziness  for  which  its  inhabitants 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

are  reproached,  and  which  has  had  so  marked  an 
influence  upon  the  customs  and  society  of  that 
city."  To  accuse  New  Yorkers  of  laziness  is 
surely  bad  enough,  but  Bourgeois  goes  further  by 
alleging  that  "they  take  part  in  contraband  trade 
with  marvellous  skill" — shades  of  the  custom 
house,  that  such  a  thing  should  have  been ! 

When  speaking  of  Philadelphia  we  mentioned 
the  absence  there  of  public  promenades  criti 
cised  by  several  writers.  Perrin  du  Lac  found  two 
such  promenades  in  New  York,  but,  says  he, 
"they  are  little  used.  Promenading  does  not 
seem  to  be  regarded  as  a  relaxation  by  these 
hardworking  people.  ...  As  for  the  women, 
they  prefer  the  principal  street,  with  its  roomy 
sidewalks  shaded  by  fine  trees,  where  they  can 
enjoy  the  pleasure  of  looking  at  the  elegant  shops 
which  line  it  on  both  sides,  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  its  entire  length."  He  is  struck  by  the 
fact  that  the  New  York  "streets  are  wide  and 
have  sidewalks.  The  streets  are  clean,  and  reg 
ularly  lighted  by  night." 

Crevecceur,  by  reason  of  his  long  residence  in 
New  York  as  French  Consul,  is  perhaps  the  best 
qualified  of  all  to  describe  what  he  saw  going  on 
about  him:  "The  city  of  New  York  is  handsome 
although  irregular.  This  irregularity  proceeds 
from  the  nature  of  the  soil,  from  the  steepness  of 
the  peninsula  on  which  the  earlier  houses  are 


Saint  John  do  Creveccrur,  178G. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

built,  as  well  as  from  the  necessity  of  continually 
making  artificial  ground  to  increase  the  extent  of 
the  city  and  procure  for  its  trade  the  needful 
warehouses  and  quays.  The  inhabitants  derive 
this  taste  for  building  along  the  water  from  the 
early  Dutch  settlers,  and  the  admirable  skill  with 
which  they  accomplish  it  from  their  own  wisdom. 
There  is  not,  I  believe,  another  city  on  this  con 
tinent  where  the  art  of  laying  the  foundations  of 
quays  and  of  constructing  them  has  been  pushed 
further.  I  have  seen  one  built  forty  feet  into  the 
water.  This  was  done  with  trunks  of  pine  trees 
fastened  together,  which  they  drive  in  with  rocks, 
and  then  cover  the  surface  with  earth.  Beaver 
Street,  which  to-day  is  quite  a  ways  from  the 
water,  was  named  thus  because  formerly  it  was 
a  small  bay  in  which  these  animals  had  erected 
a  dam.  I  have  conversed  with  old  inhabi 
tants  who  told  me  that  they  had  seen  the  sea 
mount  up  to  the  very  neighborhood  of  the  City 
Hall.  Certain  streets  have  sidewalks  on  both 
sides  paved  with  slabs  of  rock  and  adorned  with 
plane-trees,  whose  shade  in  summer  is  equally 
pleasant  for  the  passersby  and  for  the  houses. 
Here  may  be  seen  a  union  of  Dutch  neatness 
with  English  taste  and  architecture.  The  houses 
are  located,  finished,  and  painted  with  the  great 
est  care.  Here  the  merchants  are  intelligent, 
able,  and  rich,  and  the  artisans  very  skilful,  es- 

1 1751 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

pecially  the  carpenters,  cabinet-makers,  and  join 
ers.  Stone  being  rare,  nearly  the  whole  city  is 
built  of  brick.  Let  those  who,  like  myself,  have 
experienced  the  remarkable  hospitality  of  New 
Yorkers,  praise  it  as  it  deserves.  New  York  being 
the  favorite  port  for  English  packet-boats,  this 
city  is  necessarily  the  first  that  European  strangers 
enter.  The  reception  which  they  receive  here 
suffices  to  give  them  a  high  idea  of  American 
generosity,  as  well  as  of  the  simple  and  cordial 
friendliness  which  they  may  expect  in  the  other 
cities  of  this  continent.  The  streets  are  fre 
quently  cleaned  and  are  lighted  on  dark  nights. 
The  city  contains  thirty  thousand  inhabitants 
and  twenty  churches  belonging  to  different  sects. 
It  is  also  a  pleasure  to  see  a  college,  beautifully 
built;  it  is  furnished  with  an  excellent  library 
and  a  great  number  of  costly  mathematical  in 
struments." 

The  most  recent  and  striking  improvement  in 
New  York  has  been  the  widening  of  our  great  Fifth 
Avenue,  effected  by  removing  the  encroachments 
of  front  door-steps,  etc.  Of  how  ancient  a  growth 
were  these  encroachments  appears  from  the  fact 
that  certain  of  their  predecessors  were  noted  by 
St.  Mery  over  a  century  ago:  "In  New  York  two 
benches  parallel  to  each  other,  stretch  out  before 
each  front  door,"  and  he  also  notes  that  cellar  doors 
were  allowed  to  take  up  part  of  the  sidewalks.  In 
[176] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

respect  to  those  as  well  as  to  certain  other  muni 
cipal  annoyances,  we  have  been  a  long-suffering 
people,  but  "all's  well  that  ends  well"  ! 

St.  Mery  tells  us  that  "Brooklyn  has  about  a 
hundred  houses,"  so  it  would  be  rather  in  an 
article  on  country  life  than  in  this  chapter  that 
one  should  depict  those  early  beginnings  of  the 
Brooklyn  that  to-day  boasts  nearly  two  million  in 
habitants.  Another  great  change  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  New  York  is  revealed  by  Bourgeois's 
account  of  New  Rochelle,  in  those  early  days 
"inhabited  only  by  Frenchmen,  who  speak  the 
purest  French  in  the  United  States,  and  indeed 
but  little  else;  children  are  sent  there  to  learn  it, 
and  everybody  there  speaks  it,  even  the  negroes." 

New  Orleans  came  under  our  flag  so  soon  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  quarter  century  we  have 
been  studying  that  reference  to  that  charming 
city  is  hardly  out  of  place  here,  although  Perrin 
du  Lac  thought  it  "does  not  merit  favorable 
mention."  Baudry  des  Lozieres  (whose  scope  of 
studies  in  the  colonial  field  knew  no  bound,  ranging 
from  botany  and  medicine  to  recording  savage 
dialects,  or  eulogizing  colonial  officials)  was  greatly 
taken  with  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  "It  lies," 
says  he,  "in  the  midst  of  delicious  gardens,"  and 
"since  the  Spaniards  have  rebuilt  the  city  in 
brick,  it  has  much  in  common  with  Philadelphia." 
Bourgeois  reports  that  "many  of  the  houses  are 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

built  of  brick,  two  stories  high,  placed  in  a  line, 
and  presenting  a  pleasing  prospect.  Others  are 
only  of  wood,  adorned  with  a  balcony,  which 
makes  them  agreeable  to  look  upon.  The  streets 
are  wide  and  straight  as  a  string."  He  also  no 
ticed  the  number  of  fine  gardens  and  "the  superb 
promenade  which  runs  along  the  top  of  the 
levee."  General  Collot  admired  New  Orleans, 
and  said  of  St.  Louis  ("which  from  a  military 
standpoint  has  one  of  the  best  situations  on  the 
Mississippi  River")  that  "it  will  be  to  New 
Orleans  what  Albany  is  to  New  York  city."  It 
was  Berquin-Duvallon  who  wrote  at  the  greatest 
length  of  New  Orleans.  He  attributes  to  Missis 
sippi  River  water  such  marvellous  powers  of  fecun 
dity  as  to  make  one  wonder  that  the  states  ad 
joining  that  stream  are  not  vastly  over-populated. 
He  would  have  us  believe  that  its  effect  upon  the 
gentler  sex  of  New  Orleans  was  such  that  it  was 
not  unusual  to  see  there  a  mother,  her  daughter, 
and  her  grand-daughter  all  about  to  have  children 
at  the  same  time ! 

And  now  to  conclude  our  long  excursion  from 
city  to  city  by  one  to  Washington,  the  beautiful 
capital  of  our  country,  honored  with  the  most 
precious  name  that  our  history  can  boast.  Al 
though  Rlanchard,  after  visiting  Mount  Vernon, 
stopped  at  Georgetown,  and  must  have  passed 
over  the  site  where  Washington  now  stands,  there 


c3  -— 

""o  -0 

.•S  u 

%  a 

8  I 


1 1 

'3   ^ 
P 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

was  as  yet  nothing  for  him  to  see  but  fields  and 
rolling  country.  Minister  Ternant  in  October, 
1791,  "was  unwilling  to  quit  Georgetown  without 
going  to  see  the  site  selected  for  the  federal  city; 
the  situation  seemed  to  me  interesting  in  every 
respect."  He  believed  that  the  federal  treasury 
would  be  enriched  by  "thirty  million  livres  tour- 
nois"  from  the  sale  of  building  lots  there.  He 
reports  President  Washington  to  be  greatly  in 
terested  in  the  city  named  after  him,  and  that 
everybody  hoped  he  would  live  long  enough  to 
see  Congress  transferred  thither.  The  Marquise 
de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  in  1794,  refers  casually  to  "the 
new  city  of  Washington,  which  they  are  beginning 
to  build."  We  have  to  wait  until  1810  to  hear 
anything  definite,  and  even  then  Beaujour  fixes 
the  population  at  only  6,000:  "The  city  of  Wash 
ington,  the  present  site  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  has  been  laid  out  on  a  very  handsome  and 
uniform  plan.  Its  situation  between  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  near  the  Chesapeake,  which  is  the 
heart  of  the  United  States,  and  on  elevated  land 
whither  the  Potomac  brings  the  largest  vessels, 
has  been  well  chosen.  The  town  has  an  area  of 
4,124  acres,  of  which  712  are  reserved  for  avenues 
and  3,412  for  sites  for  houses,  but  with  the  ex 
ception  of  some  buildings  destined  for  the  gov 
ernment  (the  principal  one  of  which,  where  Con 
gress  sits,  bears  the  pompous  name  of  *  Capitol'), 
[  179] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

none  have  yet  been  built,  and  it  appears  that  the 
very  grandeur  of  the  plan  will  either  prevent  or 
at  least  retard  its  execution,  because  this  country 
is  not  yet  rich  enough  to  populate  so  large  a  site. 
Washington  to-day  resembles  those  Russian  cities 
marked  out  in  the  deserts  of  Tartary,  within 
which  one  sees  nothing  but  empty  fields  and 
isolated  houses." 


[180] 


CHAPTER  VIII 
COUNTRY  LIFE 

To  understand  the  United  States  of  to-day,  a 
foreigner  must  study  our  cities,  because  they 
contain  forty-seven  per  cent  of  our  entire  popula 
tion.  During  revolutionary  days  they  contained 
only  ten  per  cent,  according  to  Ronnet,  Rrissot, 
and  Rayard,  who  at  that  time  estimated  the  pro 
portion  of  our  country  residents  as  high  as  nine- 
tenths  of  the  whole.  It  was  but  natural  that  this 
distribution  of  our  population  should  result,  as 
Ronnet  noticed,  in  "this  people  having  six  land 
owners  for  every  one  lacking  it,  instead  of  being 
made  up  as  is  the  French  nation  almost  entirely 
of  tenants."  Radical  indeed  is  this  change  in  our 
drift-tendencies  of  population  effected  by  less 
than  a  century  and  a  half  of  national  existence ! 
From  the  foregoing  it  is  obvious  that  to  understand 
the  Americans  of  those  early  days  we  must  go  out 
into  the  country  and  see  how  life  there  affected 
the  customs  of  our  forebears.  First  and  foremost, 
if  Rochambeau  is  to  be  believed,  it  made  for  pa 
triotism  more  than  did  residence  in  crowded  cen 
tres;  for  he  was  quick  to  notice  that  few  country 
[181] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

folk  were  Tories,  while  "one  ought  not  to  be  sur 
prised  that  merchants  or  other  dwellers  in  the 
ports"  showed  less  zeal  for  the  Revolution  than 
the  farmers.  It  was,  therefore,  decidedly  appro 
priate  that  George  Washington,  representing  as 
he  did  not  only  that  nine-tenths  majority,  but 
also  its  highest  patriotism,  should  have  been  the 
first  President  of  our  republic.  And  where  better 
than  at  the  home  of  that  distinguished  gentleman- 
farmer,  his  retreat  from  the  responsibilities  of 
statesmanship,  can  we  begin  our  investigation  of 
the  country  life  of  his  time  ?  Let  us  visit  it  with 
our  friend  Blanchard,  commissary  in  Rocham- 
beau's  army  on  its  march  north  after  the  glorious 
victory  at  Yorktown.  Another  of  our  party  shall 
be  Custine,  an  officer  who  had  been  appointed 
lieutenant  at  the  tender  age  of  nine,  and  whose 
brilliant  career  was  soon  to  be  ended  by  the  guil 
lotine  (August  28,  1793) — an  episode  in  an  hys 
teria  of  "crimes  committed  in  the  name  of 
liberty."  Custine  kept  a  diary  during  his  stay  in 
America,  but  unfortunately  it  has  never  been 
found.  But  let  us  turn  to  Blanchard's  narrative. 
"General  Washington's  home  and  birthplace 
is  situated  between  Colchester  and  Alexandria. 
Mrs.  Washington  had  arrived  there  the  evening 
before.  She  invited  Monsieur  de  Custine,  who 
commanded  our  division,  to  dine  with  her,  and 
to  bring  with  him  several  of  his  officers;  he  sug- 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

gested  my  going;  we  arrived  there  ten  strong. 
Mrs.  Washington  is  about  fifty  years  old,  short  and 
stout,  and  of  comely  appearance.  She  was  sun- 
ply  dressed,  and  her  manner  is  unaffected.  She 
had  with  her  three  other  ladies,  relatives.  As  to 
her  residence,  it  is  the  prettiest  country  house  I 
have  yet  seen  in  America.  It  is  symmetrically 
built,  and  has  two  stories,  counting  the  garrets, 
where  pleasant  bedrooms  are  fitted  up.  Around 
about  are  a  number  of  cabins  for  negroes,  of  whom 
the  general  owns  many,  for  they  are  needed  on 
his  immense  estates,  estimated  to  contain  ten 
thousand  acres  of  land — parts  of  it  excellent,  as 
I  noticed.  A  large  portion  consists  of  wood 
lands  where  Mr.  Washington  enjoyed  shooting 
before  the  war,  which  inclined  him  to  the  mili 
tary  life  he  has  since  led.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
the  house  the  land  is  not  fertile  nor  are  the  trees 
fine — even  the  garden  is  arid.  What  must  have 
decided  the  general's  parents  to  chose  this  dwell 
ing  place  is  the  view,  which  is  extremely  beautiful. 
The  Potomac  flows  along  the  bottom  of  the  gar 
den,  and  the  largest  warships  can  anchor  there. 
It  divides  into  several  branches,  but  just  at  this 
point  is  half  a  league  wide.  The  entire  outlook 
is  most  agreeable.  The  opposite  bank  ought  to 
be  more  settled  with  houses  and  villages.  In 
short,  it  is  a  handsome  abode — befitting  Gen 
eral  Washington.  We  quitted  his  worthy  spouse 
[188] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

that  evening,  after  spending  a  very  agreeable  and 
truly  interesting  day." 

Passing  from  one  great  American  to  another, 
from  George  Washington  to  Thomas  Jefferson, 
we  shall  see  that  although  the  latter  was  visited 
at  his  country  house  by  several  French  officers 
and  travellers,  he  clearly  found  the  Marquis  de 
Chastellux  the  most  congenial  of  them  all.  To 
that  sympathetic  annalist,  therefore,  we  will  turn 
for  his  impressions  of  the  life  led  by  that  dis 
tinguished  American  in  his  country  retreat. 
Under  the  guidance  of  a  loquacious  Irishman, 
Chastellux  arrived  at  the  foot  of  some  hills  from 
which  point  he  "had  no  difficulty  in  recognizing 
on  one  of  their  summits  Mr.  Jefferson's  house, 
for  'it  shines  alone  in  these  retreats.'  He  him 
self  built  it,  and  chose  the  site;  nature  owed  it 
to  such  a  sage  and  man  of  taste  to  offer  him  as 
his  heritage  the  spot  where  he  could  best  study 
and  enjoy  her.  He  calls  his  house  Monticello 
(little  mountain),  a  modest  name,  as  it  stands  on 
a  very  high  one ! — but  it  shows  the  owner's  fond 
ness  for  the  language  of  Italy,  and  even  more  for 
the  fine  arts,  of  which  that  land  was  the  cradle, 
and  still  is  the  refuge.  From  this  on  I  no  longer 
needed  a  guide;  I  dismissed  my  Irishman,  and 
after  mounting  for  over  half  an  hour  by  a  fairly 
easy  road,  I  arrived  at  Monticello.  This  resi 
dence,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  architect 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

(and  at  times  the  builder)  is  in  the  Italian  style, 
quite  elegant,  though  not  faultless,  nevertheless; 
it  consists  of  a  large  square  pavilion,  entered  from 
two  porticos  adorned  with  columns.  The  ground 
floor  consists  chiefly  of  a  large  drawing-room,  very 
lofty,  decorated  entirely  in  antique  style;  above 
the  drawing-room  is  a  library  of  the  same  shape. 
Two  small  wings,  of  only  a  ground  floor  and  attic, 
flank  this  pavilion  and  communicate  with  kitchens, 
pantries,  etc.,  which  on  each  side  form  a  sort  of 
basement,  surmounted  by  a  terrace.  It  is  not 
alone  to  describe  the  house  that  I  enter  into  these 
details,  but  because  it  in  nowise  resembles  the 
others  to  be  seen  in  this  country;  in  fact  it  may 
be  said  that  Mr.  Jefferson  is  the  first  American 
to  consult  the  fine  arts  in  regard  to  his  dwelling- 
place.  But  I  ought  to  concern  myself  with  him 
alone — I  should  portray  a  man  not  yet  forty, 
with  a  tall  figure  and  kind,  agreeable  face,  but 
whose  wit  and  information  could  sufficiently  re 
place  all  external  charms — an  American,  who 
though  never  yet  out  of  his  own  country,  is  musi 
cian,  draftsman,  geometrician,  astronomer,  physi 
cist,  jurisconsult,  statesman — an  American  sen 
ator  who  sat  two  years  in  the  famous  Congress, 
author  of  the  Revolution  (which  is  never  mentioned 
without  respect,  unhappily  mingled  with  too 
many  regrets !) — a  governor  of  Virginia,  filling 
that  trying  post  during  the  invasions  of  Arnold, 
[i851 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

of  Philips,  and  of  Cornwallis — lastly,  a  phi 
losopher,  withdrawn  from  the  world  and  affairs, 
because  he  loves  the  world  only  so  far  as  he  be 
lieves  that  he  can  be  useful  to  it,  and  because 
his  fellow  citizens  are  not  yet  in  a  state  to  bear 
the  light  or  to  suffer  criticism.  A  gentle,  amiable 
wife,  pretty  children  he  is  bringing  up  carefully, 
a  house  to  beautify,  great  possessions  to  improve, 
sciences  and  arts  to  cultivate — all  these  are  what 
remain  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  having  played  a 
distinguished  part  on  the  stage  of  the  New  World, 
and  what  he  prefers  to  the  honorable  appoint 
ment  of  minister  plenipotentiary  in  Europe. 
The  visit  I  paid  him  was  not  unexpected;  he  had 
asked  me  some  time  before  to  spend  a  few  days  in 
the  bosom  of  his  family,  that  is,  in  the  heart  of 
the  mountains.  Nevertheless  I  found  his  greet 
ing  grave  and  even  cold;  but  after  spending  two 
hours  with  him,  I  felt  I  had  known  him  all  my 
life.  Walks,  the  library,  and,  above  all,  conver 
sation — always  varied,  always  interesting,  always 
maintained  by  that  sweet  content  two  persons 
feel  who,  on  exchanging  sentiments  and  opinions, 
find  themselves  in  constant  accord,  and  under 
stand  one  another's  half-expressed  word — all  these 
made  four  days  pass  for  me  like  four  minutes. 
This  conformity  was  so  perfect  that  not  only 
were  our  tastes  alike,  but  even  our  preferences— 
those  preferences  which  dry-as-dust  and  material 
[186] 


[EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

minds  ridicule  as  enthusiasm,  and  which  men  of 
sensibility  glorify  under  the  same  name.  I  re 
call  with  pleasure  that  one  evening  as  we  were 
chatting  over  a  bowl  of  punch  after  Mrs.  Jeffer 
son  had  withdrawn,  we  happened  to  speak  of  the 
poems  of  Ossian.  It  was  as  if  an  electric  spark 
had  flashed  from  one  to  the  other ! — each  recalled 
to  the  other  certain  passages  of  those  sublime 
poems  which  had  struck  him  most,  and  we  con 
versed  upon  them  to  my  travelling  companions, 
who  happily  knew  English  well  and  could  appre 
ciate  them,  but  who  had  never  read  them.  Soon 
it  was  decided  that  the  book  should  have  its  place 
as  a  toast — it  was  fetched,  placed  beside  the 
punch-bowl,  and  together  they  lasted  us  far  into 
the  night  ere  we  realized  it !  At  times  physics,  at 
others  politics  or  art  formed  the  subject  of  our 
conversations,  for  nothing  has  escaped  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  and  it  seems  as  if,  from  his  youth  up,  he 
had  set  his  mind,  like  his  house,  on  heights  from 
which  he  could  contemplate  the  entire  universe." 
A  pleasant  glimpse  at  the  country  house  of  an 
other  historic  American  family  is  given  by  the 
Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin:  "The  Van  Buren 
farm  house,  an  old  Dutch  mansion,  occupied  a 
delightful  site  on  the  river  bank.  Though  en 
tirely  isolated  on  the  land  side,  it  had  easy  com 
munication  with  the  other  shore  of  the  stream. 
Opposite,  on  the  Canada  road,  rose  a  large  tavern, 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

where  one  could  get  all  kinds  of  information, 
newspapers,  and  notices  of  sale.  Two  or  three 
stage-coaches  passed  it  every  day.  Van  Buren 
owned  two  canoes,  and  the  river  was  always  so 
calm  we  could  cross  it  at  any  time.  No  road 
traversed  this  estate,  shut  in  at  some  hundreds 
of  toises  (toise=  about  two  yards)  by  a  mountain, 
covered  with  noble  forests,  and  also  belonging  to 
Van  Buren.  We  sometimes  thought  this  farm 
would  suit  us,  but  it  was  held  at  a  higher  figure 
than  we  could  give.  That  alone  prevented  us 
from  acquiring  it,  for  the  general  rule  in  America 
at  that  time  was  (and  I  think  still  is),  no  matter 
how  much  a  man  was  attached  to  his  house,  his 
farm,  his  horse,  or  his  negro — if  you  offered  him 
a  third  more  than  the  value,  you  were  sure,  in 
a  land  where  everything  has  a  price,  to  become 
the  owner!" 

One  would  naturally  expect  complimentary 
comments  upon  life  in  the  country  houses  of  great 
men  such  as  those  just  described.  But  what  of 
that  enjoyed  by  the  rank  and  file  of  our  people 
—how  did  that  strike  the  French?  A  soldier 
who  spent  only  twenty-four  days  ashore  in 
America,  and  who  slept  on  the  ground  every 
night,  never  once  during  that  entire  period  being 
able  to  change  his  clothes,  could  not  be  consid 
ered  a  severe  critic  if  he  said  unpleasant  things 
of  American  country  life!  And  yet  Comte  de 
[188] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Revel,  who  had  that  very  experience  in  the 
trenches  before  Yorktown,  "saw  some  very  fine 
houses  which  from  their  exteriors  as  well  as  their 
comfortable  interiors  seemed  to  belong  to  wealthy 
people."  Nor  was  this  his  only  amiable  remark 
concerning  those  he  had  crossed  the  sea  to  aid. 
His  friendly  impressions  of  what  little  of  American 
life  he  was  able  to  see  are  rendered  all  the  more 
valuable  because  they  come  from  the  only  French 
man  so  critical  as  to  find  fault  with  the  discipline 
of  French  troops  in  service  here;  on  that  subject  he 
is  as  severe  as  he  was  kindly  to  us. 

Turning  from  Revel  and  his  brief  stay  to  others 
who  had  ampler  time  to  enter  into  the  life  away 
from  cities  as  led  by  our  ancestors,  let  us  accom 
pany  some  of  his  compatriots  on  a  round  of  visits 
to  certain  country  houses,  beginning  with  that 
of  General  Nelson,  where  we  shall  see  what  took 
place  when  adverse  weather  conditions  kept  them 
indoors.  The  general  himself  chanced  to  be  away, 
but  Chastellux  says  that  his  mother  and  his  wife 
"received  me  with  all  the  interest,  simplicity,  and 
cordiality  customary  in  that  family;  but  since  in 
America  they  never  feel  that  women  alone  can 
do  the  honors  of  a  house,  five  or  six  Nelsons  were 
assembled  to  receive  me,  among  others,  Secretary 
Nelson,  uncle  of  the  general,  two  of  his  brothers, 
and  two  sons  of  the  secretary.  All  these  young 
people  were  married,  some  had  their  wives  and 
[189] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

children  with  them — all  named  Nelson,  but  ad 
dressed  by  their  baptismal  names  alone,  so  that 
during  my  two  days  in  this  truly  patriarchal 
house  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  learn  who  was 
who !  When  I  say  that  I  passed  two  days  in 
this  house  it  must  be  understood  in  the  most 
literal  sense,  for  the  weather  was  so  bad  that  we 
could  not  go  out.  As  the  accommodations  were 
neither  commodious  nor  spacious,  the  parlor,  or 
salon,  was  occupied  by  all  the  company,  espe 
cially  the  men,  from  breakfast  until  bedtime,  but 
the  conversation  was  agreeable  and  well  sustained. 
If  you  wished  diversion  you  found  at  your  hand 
very  good  English  and  French  books.  An  ex 
cellent  breakfast  at  nine  in  the  morning,  a  heavy 
dinner  at  two  o'clock,  tea  and  punch  in  the  after 
noon,  and  a  light  supper  which  looked  very  nice, 
made  a  pleasant  division  of  the  day  for  those 
whose  stomachs  could  stand  it.  It  perhaps  mer 
its  observation  that  on  this  occasion  where  fifteen 
or  twenty  people,  of  whom  all  were  strangers  to 
the  family  and  the  land,  found  themselves  thrown 
together  in  the  country  and  forced  by  bad  weather 
to  remain  indoors,  there  was  no  question  of  play 
ing  cards.  How  many  parties  of  tric-trac,  of 
whisk  [sic],  of  lotto,  would  there  have  been 
among  us  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  an  ob 
stinate  rain !  Perhaps  there  would  also  have 
been  more  agreeable  amusements  to  vary  the 
[190] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

scene — music,  drawing,  reading  aloud,  and 
woman's  fancy-work  are  resources  unknown  in 
America,  but  it  must  be  hoped  that  they  will 
not  delay  in  acquiring  them;  certainly  training 
was  all  that  a  Miss  Tolliver  needed,  for  she  sang 
several  songs  with  English  words  but  Italian 


music." 


Brissot  shall  tell  us  of  a  visit  he  made  upon 
Senator  Dalton  of  New  Hampshire  while  on  his 
travels  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  country: 
"We  left  on  Sunday  and  went  to  dine  at  Colonel 
Dalton's  house,  which  is  three  miles  from  New- 
Berry  on  the  Merrimac.  His  farm  is  well  stocked; 
I  saw  thirty  cows  there,  a  large  number  of  fat  pigs, 
sheep,  provisions  in  abundance,  and  a  well-planted 
garden.  Artichokes  grow  very  well,  but  they  only 
cultivate  them  out  of  curiosity,  for  they  are  not 
eaten.  He  takes  great  pains  with  his  gardens, 
which  are  rather  neglected  in  America.  Mr. 
Dalton  received  me  with  that  frankness  which 
becomes  a  man  in  easy  circumstances,  and  a  man 
of  talent — with  that  hospitality  peculiar  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp 
shire,  which  is  certainly  much  greater  there  than 
in  any  of  the  Eastern  or  Middle  States.  The 
Americans  do  not  know  what  we  call  large  ban 
quets  and  fetes.  They  treat  strangers  as  they 
treat  themselves  every  day,  and  they  live  well. 
They  said  to  me  that  they  could  not  understand 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

starving  all  the  week  in  order  to  feast  on  Sun 
day  !  This  fact  reveals  a  well-to-do  people  which 
does  not  concern  itself  overmuch  with  fasting. 
Mr.  Dalton's  family  was  a  picture  of  patriarchal 
life,  and  of  true  domestic  happiness.  It  was 
composed  of  four  or  five  pretty,  modest  young 
persons  dressed  in  simple  silk  gowns,  for  it  was 
Sunday,  and  they  had  just  come  from  meeting 
or  church.  Mr.  Dalton  had  been  speaker,  or 
president  of  the  legislative  body  of  New  Hamp 
shire.  He  had  the  reputation  of  speaking  well, 
and  of  conducting  proceedings  with  dignity.  He 
is  now  one  of  the  senators  in  the  national  Con 
gress." 

As  a  change  from  the  sedateness  of  the  enter 
tainment  afforded  by  this  serious  household,  and  to 
get  as  many  points  of  view  as  possible,  let  us  turn 
to  what  Chastellux  found  near  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire:  "Mr.  Tracey  returned  with  two  well- 
appointed  carriages  and  took  me,  as  well  as  my 
staff-officers,  to  his  country  house.  This  house  is 
situated  one  mile  from  the  town  on  a  very  pretty 
site,  but  I  could  not  judge  of  it  because  it  was  al 
ready  night.  Nevertheless,  I  went  out  to  see  the 
garden  by  moonlight;  it  is  large  and  composed  of 
different  terraces.  The  house  is  very  pretty  and 
perfectly  furnished.  Everything  displays  that 
magnificence  combined  with  simplicity  which  one 
finds  only  in  merchants'  houses.  The  evening 
[  192] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

passed  rapidly  with  the  assistance  of  several 
glasses  of  punch  and  agreeable  conversation.  The 
ladies  whom  I  found  already  assembled,  were 
Mrs.  Tracey,  her  two  sisters,  and  Miss  Lee,  their 
cousin.  Mrs.  Tracey  has  an  agreeable  and  ani 
mated  face,  and  her  manners  correspond.  At 
ten  o'clock  they  served  an  excellent  supper  with 
very  good  wine.  Miss  Lee  sang,  and  persuaded 
Monsieur  de  Vaudreuil  and  Monsieur  de  Talley 
rand  to  sing  also.  About  midnight  the  ladies 
withdrew,  but  we  continued  to  drink  Madeira 
and  Sherry.  Mr.  Tracey,  following  the  custom 
of  the  country,  offered  us  pipes,  a  proposition 
which  was  accepted  by  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand 
and  Monsieur  Montesquieu,  with  the  result  that 
they  succeeded  in  getting  themselves  drunk  and 
carried  home,  where  they  were  very  glad  to  find 
themselves  in  bed.  As  for  me,  I  remained  per 
fectly  calm  and  continued  to  discuss  commerce 
and  politics  with  Mr.  Tracey." 

Few  of  the  Frenchmen  travelled  so  widely  in 
our  country  as  Chastellux,  which  gave  him  pe 
culiar  advantages  in  knowing  people  of  all  sec 
tions,  and  the  life  they  led  in  their  homes.  Let 
us  stray  with  him  as  far  as  the  Byrd  estate  on 
the  James  River  in  Virginia,  a  property  that  is 
still  in  the  possession  of  that  family:  "I  went 
on  twenty-six  miles  in  very  hot  weather  and  by  a 
most  agreeable  road,  every  moment  coming  upon 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

fine  residences,  for  the  banks  of  the  River  James 
is  the  garden  spot  of  Virginia.  That  of  Mrs. 
Byrd  (Westover),  to  which  I  was  going,  surpasses 
them  all  for  magnificence  of  buildings,  beauty  of 
situation,  and  the  charm  of  the  society  which 
one  finds  there.  Mrs.  Byrd  is  the  widow  of  a 
colonel  who  served  in  the  last  war,  and  who  was 
later  a  member  of  the  Royal  Council.  She  has 
taken  charge  of  this  fine  house  on  the  banks  of 
the  James,  a  valuable  property,  a  considerable 
number  of  slaves,  and  some  farms,  which  she  has 
improved.  She  is  forty-two,  of  a  pleasing  figure, 
and  very  spirited.  By  diligent  effort  and  activ 
ity  she  has  to  some  extent  repaired  the  effects 
of  the  dissipation  of  her  husband,  and  her  house 
is  the  most  famous  and  agreeable  of  the  neigh 
borhood."  Even  more  intimate  than  all  of  these 
accounts  is  one  which  the  Due  de  Rochefoucauld 
gives  of  his  stay  at  General  Knox's  country  place. 
In  it  he  voices  the  instinctive  feeling  of  all  the 
French  writers  on  America  that  it  was  amid  the 
leisure  and  seclusion  of  the  country,  rather  than 
in  the  bustle  of  the  city  that  a  clear  insight  was 
to  be  had  into  the  real  character  of  the  Ameri 
can  and  his  home.  Says  he:  "Mrs.  Knox  gains 
greatly  on  acquaintance.  If  you  have  seen  her 
only  in  Philadelphia  you  would  think  her  never 
happy  except  at  a  table  of  commerce  or  of  whisk 
[sic],  but  in  her  own  country  house  she  proves 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

bright,  well  educated,  admirable  in  every  respect, 
and  full  of  merit.  One  recognizes  a  truly  master 
mind.  In  the  country  Miss  Knox  loses  her  ex 
cessive  timidity.  She  lets  one  see  that  she  is 
sprightly,  clever,  and  gay." 

That  the  custom  of  "stirrup-cup"  was  pre 
served  among  us  appears  from  Chastellux's  ex 
perience:  "At  Mrs.  Erskine's  at  Ringwood,  N.  J., 
they  gave  me  all  the  information  I  needed,  and 
after  having  drunk  a  glass  of  madeira,  accord 
ing  to  the  custom  of  the  country  which  does  not 
permit  one  to  leave  a  house  without  having  a 
drink,  I  remounted  my  horse."  The  writer  can 
testify  that  the  ancient  hospitality  of  Ringwood 
has  been  worthily  maintained.  The  Marquise  de 
la  Tour  du  Pin  found  when  leaving  the  Lansing 
home,  near  Albany,  that,  "Madame  Lansing  hav 
ing  prepared  for  us  a  glass  of  madeira  and  a  bis 
cuit,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  partake,  at 
the  risk  of  being  considered  bad  neighbors."  Mr. 
Lansing  was  of  Dutch  parentage,  and  was  greatly 
surprised  to  learn  that  his  French  neighbor,  till 
ing  a  modest  farm  near  by,  had  once  been  the  dip 
lomatic  representative  of  the  French  king  in  Hol 
land!  General  Schuyler  and  "Mr.  Renslaer"  of 
Albany  had  advised  those  distinguished  settlers 
that  it  was  best  "to  divide  our  funds  into  three 
equal  parts,  one  devoted  to  purchasing  land, 
another  to  equipment,  including  slaves,  horses, 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

cows,  agricultural  implements,  and  furniture,  and 
the  third  to  provide  against  the  unexpected  (such 
as  loss  of  slaves  or  cattle)  and  for  living  expenses." 

That  pleasant  word  "picnic,"  so  popular  at  all 
times  in  our  country,  played  havoc  with  the  spell 
ing  powers  of  the  French.  Their  ways  of  render 
ing  it  were  various,  of  which  let  "  pique-nique " 
be  a  sample.  Their  appreciation,  however,  of 
that  rustic  entertainment  was  as  enthusiastic  as 
their  spelling  of  it  was  uncertain.  Nor  was  this 
the  only  word  to  be  mangled,  for  Baron  Closen 
writes  "Janckey  Dudle"  as  the  nickname  given 
us  by  the  English !  Milfort  effectively  disguises 
two  of  our  Indian  tribes,  the  Cherokees  and  the 
Choctaws,  by  calling  them  the  Scherokys  and  the 
Tchactas,  and  spells  Norwich  (Connecticut)  both 
Norege  and  Noraige;  and  Volney  delights  to  tell  of 
"Kentokey." 

Bayard  shall  give  us  an  account  of  one  picnic 
which  he  attended:  "Laborers  are  sent  the  day 
before  to  cut  down  branches  and  make  a  small 
enclosure  near  a  private  house  whose  kitchen  is 
lent  for  such  cooking  as  is  necessary,  but  always 
it  must  be  near  a  river.  The  host  brings  cold 
meats,  pastries,  etc.,  and  the  china  and  silver  are 
set  out  on  tables  covered  with  fine  linen.  As  soon 
as  a  guest  arrives,  he  is  given  cold  punch  in  a  large 
china  loving-cup,  often  containing  three  or  four 
bowlsful,  which  passes  round  the  circle,  and  is 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

carried  to  every  one's  lips.  Few  French  became 
accustomed  to  this  ancient  way  of  drinking,  and 
in  America,  where  almost  all  the  men  chew  to 
bacco,  it  is  excessively  untidy.  In  the  cities  every 
body  has  his  own  glass  for  beer  or  wine,  but 
toddy  and  punch  are  drunk  from  a  loving-cup. 
Toddy  is  a  drink  made  of  brandy,  sugar,  and  tepid 
water,  in  which  are  placed  one  or  two  roasted 
crab-apples  and  a  little  muscat.  When  the  whole 
company  is  assembled,  the  servants  put  off  in 
the  boats,  and  nets  are  thrown  into  the  water;  the 
banks  of  the  river  resound  with  applause  if  the 
fishermen  make  a  good  catch.  The  fish  are  shown 
to  the  spectators  who  order  them  either  to  be 
cooked  or  thrown  back  into  the  water.  The  ladies 
intercede  for  the  pretty  ones,  but  the  gourmands 
of  America,  much  less  gallant  than  those  of  Eu 
rope,  won't  let  a  pleasing  morsel  escape  for  all  the 
beautiful  eyes  in  the  world." 

Another  form  of  rustic  gayety,  but  this  of  a 
much  more  practical  sort,  was  the  gathering  of 
neighbors,  known  as  a  "corn  husking."  "This," 
says  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  "is  called  a 
frolick."  How  appropriate  was  the  name  shall  ap 
pear  from  the  kind  of  refreshment  offered  those 
undertaking  this  neighborly  task  of  rapidly  per 
forming  for  each  farmer  something  which  unaided 
he  could  not  do  in  the  two  days  which,  the  author 
ess  says,  "is  as  long  as  the  corn  could  safely  lie 

[197] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

unhusked.  First  they  sweep  the  barn  floor  as 
carefully  as  if  they  were  going  to  give  a  ball. 
When  night  comes  on  they  light  the  candles,  and 
all  the  assembled  guests  set  to  work.  There  is 
always  one  of  them  singing  a  song  or  telling  a 
story.  About  midnight,  there  is  served  boiling 
milk  with  cider  in  it.  To  this  is  added  five  or 
six  pounds  of  sugar  if  one  feels  inclined  to  do  the 
magnificent,  or  if  not,  the  same  quantity  of  molas 
ses,  then  some  spice,  cloves,  cinnamon,  or  nutmeg, 
etc.  Our  industrious  guests  consumed,  to  our 
great  delight,  an  immense  caldron  of  this  mixture, 
along  with  much  toasted  bread,  and  left  us  at  five 
o'clock  of  a  frosty  morning,  saying  (this  in  English) 
'  famous  good  people,  those  from  the  old  country ' ! " 
Only  one  disagreeable  note  is  struck  in  the  many 
pleasing  accounts  of  our  country  life,  and  that  is 
caused  by  the  nearer  view  of  slavery  which  it 
afforded,  an  institution  to  which  the  French,  one 
and  all,  objected  heartily.  Many  were  the  meth 
ods  they  suggested  for  removing  that  stain  from 
our  escutcheon,  the  most  novel  and  diverting  being 
one  from  Bonnet.  He  urged  that  the  making  of 
maple-sugar  would,  if  properly  pushed,  abolish 
slavery,  because  it  would  so  reduce  the  price  of 
sugar  as  to  ruin  the  West  Indian  cane  planters, 
whom  he  chiefly  blames  for  the  importation  of 
slaves.  If  they  could  no  longer  profitably  make 
cane  sugar,  the  reason  for  the  slave-trade  would 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

cease.  Fortunately,  that  stain  is  no  longer  on 
our  nation,  and  we  may  pass  over  the  many  allu 
sions  to  it  in  the  French  memoirs.  Its  effect  on 
the  habits  and  manners  of  the  slave  owners  was 
so  often  commented  upon  that  perhaps,  to  com 
plete  our  picture  of  country  life  at  that  time,  we 
should  include  one  which  Mazzei  quotes  approv 
ingly  from  Abbe  Raynal,  although  believing  as 
we  do  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  has  remedied 
the  results  attributed  to  it:  "Men  who  prefer  the 
tranquillity  of  country  life  to  a  tumultuous  so 
journ  in  cities,  should  be  naturally  economical 
and  laborious,  but  they  never  were  that  in  Virginia. 
The  people  there  always  took  great  pains  in  fur 
nishing  their  houses.  They  liked  frequently  to 
entertain  their  neighbors,  and  that  too  with  much 
display.  They  were  always  glad  to  flaunt  the 
greatest  possible  luxury  before  the  eyes  of  English 
travellers  whom  business  brought  to  their  plan 
tations,  but  always  they  slipped  back  into  that 
laziness  and  carelessness  which  is  customary  in 
regions  where  slavery  is  established." 

To  slavery,  however,  we  are  indebted  for  one  of 
the  most  touching  episodes  in  all  these  French  mem 
oirs — one  from  the  pen  of  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour 
du  Pin,  describing  the  purchase  by  the  marquis  of 
a  negro  woman,  long  separated  from  her  husband 
by  the  cruel  laws  of  slavery,  and  her  delight  at 
finding  that  he  also  owned  her  husband,  so  that 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

they  could  once  more  be  united.  Nor  did  our 
delightful  French  pair  content  themselves  with 
this,  but  when  they  left  for  France  the  next  year 
they  freed  these  two  negroes  as  well  as  two  others 
they  had  bought.  So  charming  is  the  scene  where 
the  four  slaves,  hardly  able  to  believe  that  they 
were  being  given  their  freedom,  cast  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  their  benefactress,  that  we  can  well 
believe  her  words:  "Who  can  describe  the  deep 
emotions  of  such  a  moment.  Never  in  my  life 
have  I  experienced  anything  so  sweet !"  Nor  did 
it  prove  easy  to  carry  this  act  into  effect,  at  least 
in  the  case  of  one  of  them,  for  the  magistrate  be 
fore  whom  the  act  of  manumission  took  place 
objected  that,  being  over  fifty,  the  slave  could 
not  be  freed.  Fortunately,  the  negro  could  display 
his  birth  certificate,  proving  that  he  was  only 
forty-nine. 

Two  customary  features  of  our  rural  landscape 
seemed  particularly  to  strike  the  French,  one,  the 
use  of  wooden  fences  instead  of  the  green  hedges 
so  universal  in  Europe,  and  the  other,  the  open 
and  agreeable  disposal  of  the  houses  in  our  vil 
lages,  in  contrast  to  the  huddling  together  of 
hovels  to  which  their  eyes  were  accustomed  at 
home.  They  freely  expressed  their  opinion  that 
we  would  soon  take  to  hedges  and  give  up  the 
less  picturesque  fences!  As  one  of  the  reasons 
therefor  Brissot  alleges  that  "it  is  impossible  that 
[  200  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

these  fences  should  be  cheaper  than  hedges  when 
away  from  cities  and  more  in  the  woods.  It  is  cal 
culated  that  a  negro  can  hew  one  hundred  and 
thirty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  rails  of  wood  in 
a  day."  Bonnet  thought  it  just  as  well  that  we 
continue  for  a  while  to  use  open  rail  fences  instead 
of  hedges,  because  the  latter  in  a  recently  cleared 
country  would  necessarily  harbor  snakes. 

As  to  the  arrangement  of  our  country  towns, 
Beaujour  says :  "  The  towns  and  villages  are  built 
as  in  England  along  a  single  street,  with  but  two 
rows  of  houses.  These  houses  generally  stand 
apart,  so  that  an  accidental  fire  cannot  be  com 
municated  from  one  to  the  other.  They  ordinarily 
form  one  long  street,  backed  on  both  sides  with 
gardens  and  fields.  This  manner  of  building  vil 
lages  is  preferable  to  that  commonly  employed 
in  Europe,  where  the  houses,  huddled  together, 
provide  all  the  inconveniences  of  cities  without 
any  of  the  agreeable  features  of  country  life." 
Even  those  who  dwelt  in  the  cities,  says  Beaujour, 
wished  them  to  resemble  what  was  to  be  enjoyed 
outside:  "American  cities  are  not  beautiful  and 
sumptuous  like  those  of  Europe,  but  they  have 
more  space,  and  almost  all  have  trees  and  gardens 
throughout,  which  lends  them  the  appearance 
and  the  pleasures  of  the  country.  Sometimes  the 
houses  do  not  adjoin,  but  form  groups  as  in  some 
of  our  hamlets." 

[201  ] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

When  Lafayette  marched  his  command  of  two 
thousand  Continental  troops  along  the  shores  of 
Long  Island  Sound,  they  passed  "through  a 
smiling  country  covered  with  villages,  where  the 
equality  of  the  people  indicated  a  perfect  democ 
racy."  The  French  seemed  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  country  life  had  quite  a  different  effect 
in  America  from  that  in  Europe.  The  isolation 
of  the  farms  and  country  places  appeared,  in  this 
new  land,  rather  to  have  benefited  the  manners 
and  morals  than  to  have  had  the  opposite  effect, 
so  usual  in  the  Old  World.  Robin  says:  u These 
farmers,  simpler  than  our  peasants,  have  neither 
the  rusticity  nor  the  boorishness  of  the  latter; 
better  educated,  they  have  neither  their  wiliness 
nor  their  dissimulation.  Further  removed  from 
the  arts  and  less  industrious,  they  are  less  ham 
pered  by  ancient  custom,  and  more  ingenious  in 
perfecting  and  inventing  that  which  increases  their 
comfort."  Brissot  goes  so  far  as  to  say:  "The 
Americans  have  pure  customs  because  nine- 
tenths  of  them  live  some  distance  apart  in  the 
country."  Bonnet  decided  that  American  farm 
ers  were  rich  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  chil 
dren  they  had — the  more  children  a  farmer  had, 
the  more  he  could  support. 

It  was  in  order  to  study  our  people  thoroughly 
that  Bayard  made  his  journey  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  on  horseback  from  Baltimore  to  Bath, 
[  202  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Virginia,  a  summer  resort  now  well  known  as  the 
Warm  Springs:  "As  I  wished  really  to  know  the 
American  people  before  going  back  to  my  country, 
I  concluded  (because  they  were  so  scattered)  that 
beneath  rustic  roofs,  in  the  isolation  of  forests,  on 
mountain  heights  I  could  best  lay  hold  of  their 
characteristic  traits,  and  not  in  cities  where  all  is 
imitation,  where  the  inhabitants,  in  constant  com 
munication  with  Europe,  are  continually  imbued 
with  English  prejudices  and  reveal  in  their  habits 
as  in  their  opinions  the  marks  of  chains  they  had 
the  courage  to  break." 

His  is  one  of  the  few  pictures  now  accessible  of 
fashion  amusing  itself  away  from  home  during  the 
hot  weather,  when  life  in  town  was  to  be  avoided 
by  those  who  could  afford  a  change  of  air.  The 
custom  of  frequenting  such  resorts  was  then  a  new 
one,  and  life  and  amusements  there  were  most  prim 
itive;  it  is  true  they  had  a  theatre,  but  it  was  built 
of  logs.  That  the  primitive  surroundings  in  no  way 
abated  the  fixed  habits  of  polite  society  appears 
from  Bayard's  account  of  the  due  observance  there 
of  all  the  elaborate  etiquette  at  that  time  surround 
ing  tea-drinking ! 

Another  custom,  likewise  then  in  its  infancy, 
and  also  exemplifying  the  desire  of  city  people 
for  a  temporary  escape  from  the  restraints  of 
urban  life,  was  that  of  having  out-of-town  villas 
within  easy  access  of  their  city  residences. 
[208] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

"Most  New  Yorkers,"  says  Bourgeois,  "have 
very  pretty  houses  in  the  country,  some  of  them 
as  far  off  as  thirty  miles.  They  drive  out  to  them 
in  smart,  lightly  built  chaises,  drawn  by  a  single 
horse,  and  one  can  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  shoot 
ing  from  them  without  alighting,  for  the  land  is 
not  hilly." 


CHAPTER  IX 

TRAVEL— ITS  CONVENIENCES  AND 
INCONVENIENCES 

IT  seems  incredible  that  any  one  so  calm-visaged 
as  Benjamin  Franklin  must  be  held  accountable 
for  the  electrical  speeding-up  both  of  modern 
travel  and  the  transmission  of  news !  Here  we 
are,  author  and  reader,  trying  to  translate  our 
selves  back  into  the  days  of  that  remarkable 
American,  and  yet  it  was  his  trifling  with  thun 
derbolts  and  kites  that  is  going  to  make  it  so 
difficult  for  us  to  forget  the  aeroplanes  and  ocean 
greyhounds  of  to-day,  and  to  adjust  our  minds  to 
the  forms  of  travelling  found  by  the  French  in 
our  country  during  the  days  when  our  indepen 
dence  was  gained.  We  know  that  General  Ro- 
chambeau  encouraged  his  officers  to  travel  widely 
in  order  to  keep  him  well  informed.  Let  us  ac 
company  them,  not  forgetting,  however,  that  the 
day  of  modern  conveniences  was  still  far  distant. 
What  shall  we  find  was  the  state  of  affairs  then 
confronting  those  about  to  set  out  on  a  journey  ? 
All  sorts  of  methods  and  every  kind  of  convey 
ance  were  used  by  our  authors.  In  the  beginning 

[2051 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

they  tell  us  chiefly  of  travel  on  horseback  (which 
they  found  expensive),  and  that  almost  nobody 
employed  the  customary  European  system  of  hir 
ing  post-horses.  This  helps  us  to  understand  why 
de  Kalb  says  in  a  letter  of  June  18,  1777,  that 
"immense  sums  were  necessary  to  travel  three 
hundred  leagues  by  land  with  all  my  baggage, 
for  the  hiring  of  horses  and  carriages."  Per 
contra,  we  find  several  accounts  of  how  cheaply 
one  could  travel  in  stage-coaches,  the  usual  method 
of  getting  from  place  to  place.  Brissot  writes  in 
August,  1788,  of  the  journey  from  Boston  to 
New  York:  "The  distance  which  separates  these 
two  cities  is  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles. 
Several  individuals  have  joined  together  to  set 
up  a  public  stage-service  to  transport  travellers 
at  regular  intervals  from  one  city  to  the  other. 
Stages  are  changed  several  times  on  the  road,  and 
the  trip  lasts  four  days  in  summer  but  the  trav 
ellers  are  obliged  to  set  out  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Each  day  they  do  from  sixty  to  sixty- 
six  miles.  The  charge  is  three  cents  a  mile, 
Massachusetts  money;  baggage  also  pays  three 
cents  a  mile  exceeding  fourteen  pounds,  which 
amount  is  carried  gratuitously.  We  started  out 
from  Boston  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  a 
coach  which  held  six,  hung  on  springs."  The 
pleasantest  of  all  the  methods  of  locomotion  as 
well  as  the  cheapest,  was,  as  might  be  expected, 
[206] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

happened  upon  by  Chastellux,  who  enjoyed  not 
only  the  admirable  trait  of  getting  the  best  out 
of  life  wherever  he  went,  but  also  (happily  for  us) 
that  of  recording  it  divertingly.  Near  Albany  he 
took  a  couple  of  sleighs  which  belonged  to  the 
State,  furnished  to  him  by  the  Quartermaster- 
General,  "an  excellent  man  named  Quakerbush. 
My  intention  was  to  pay  for  them  but  he  would 
not  consent  to  it,  assuring  me  that  it  would  be 
enough  if  I  turned  them  over  to  the  Quartermaster 
of  Rhode  Island,  who  would  send  them  back 
when  opportunity  served.  There  still  exists  a 
very  comfortable  arrangement  for  military  men 
and  those  in  the  public  service — each  State  main 
tains  relays  of  horses  for  them  to  use  in  travelling, 
only  requiring  that  the  latter  shall  be  turned  over 
to  the  Quartermaster  of  the  place  where  one  fin 
ishes  using  them.  In  the  northern  states  there 
are  also  sleighs  used  for  that  purpose." 

Brissot  both  enlightens  and  entertains  us  by 
his  comparison  between  our  vehicles  and  those 
of  his  own  country:  "Americans  have  as  car 
riages  diligences,  coupes,  phaetons,  sulkies  (with 
one  seat),  cabriolets  with  places  for  two — all  ex 
cellent  vehicles,  with  light  wheels,  good  springs 
and  costing  half  as  much  as  ours.  Frenchmen 
who  go  to  America  often  take  their  carriages  with 
them,  for  they  think  they  are  going  to  land  in  a 
savage  country !  Crevecceur  told  me  that  he 
[207] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

saw  one  of  our  gentlefolk  land  'with  one  of  those 
heavy  postchaises  formerly  so  much  in  vogue. 
It  excited  great  surprise  among  the  Americans, 
who  could  not  believe  that  such  a  thing  came  from 
a  civilized  land.  The  French  Consul,  for  the 
honor  of  the  country,  hastened  to  hide  it  away 
in  a  livery  stable.' ' 

Concerning  the  nature  of  the  roads  which,  at 
that  time,  connected  the  different  parts  of  the 
country,  there  is  some  conflict  of  testimony,  but 
although  Beaujour  and  one  or  two  others  were 
inclined  to  be  rather  severe  in  their  criticisms,  the 
majority  of  the  testimony  is  commendatory. 
Mandrillon  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  they  "are 
finer  than  those  in  most  of  the  countries  of 
Europe."  Segur  is  more  specific:  "The  road 
which  I  was  following  was  wide,  very  well  laid, 
and  carefully  kept  up;  every  place  where  I  stopped 
the  people  received  me  with  courtesy,  and  hast 
ened  to  get  horses  for  both  me  and  my  guide." 
He  significantly  comments  upon  the  road  between 
Newport  and  New  London,  that  "it  was  the  first 
bad  road  that  I  had  met  in  the  United  States." 
Minister  Fauchet  was  so  unkind  as  to  report  to 
his  government,  March  21,  1794,  that  on  his  way 
from  Baltimore  "to  reach  Philadelphia  we  had 
to  travel  by  roads  which  were  almost  impassable; 
it  was  only  after  much  effort  and  fatigue  that  we 
were  able  to  arrive  in  that  city."  The  impartial 
[208] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

du  Bourg  found  the  Virginia  roads  "really  very 
fine,"  although  he  complains  of  those  in  Maryland. 
Our  highways  must  have  been  fairly  good  or  Baron 
Closen  would  hardly  have  been  able  to  ride  nine 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  (carrying  a  message 
from  Rochambeau  in  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  to 
Congress  in  Philadelphia,  and  back)  in  less  than 
nine  days.  It  is  from  La  Rochefoucauld  that  we 
shall  obtain  an  explanation  for  the  comparative 
excellence  of  the  roads:  "The  roads  are  good  be 
cause  the  soil  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  them 
so.  With  the  exception  of  that  at  Lancaster  on 
which  they  are  at  present  working,  road-making 
as  an  art  has  had  little  to  do  with  the  Pennsyl 
vania  roads."  Bonnet,  viewing  our  roads  from 
another  angle,  believes  they  are  good,  not  only 
because  the  ground  is  properly  prepared,  but  also 
because  they  are  relieved  from  the  heavier  traffic, 
which  is  diverted  to  the  canals  and  rivers. 

Turning  from  generalities  to  that  most  impor 
tant  particularity,  the  stage-coach  driver,  Bayard 
gives  us  a  very  lifelike  picture:  "An  American 
stage-coach  driver  is  a  sort  of  a  magistrate  who 
passes  on  all  kinds  of  questions.  He  takes  part 
in  the  general  conversation  of  the  travellers,  and 
often  conducts  it.  It  is  very  rarely  that  one  re 
monstrates  with  him,  even  in  the  humblest  way, 
upon  his  manner  of  driving.  If  debates  arise 
upon  the  length  of  the  road,  upon  whether  or  not 
[209] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

it  is  comfortable,  upon  horse-flesh  or  the  lineage 
thereof,  upon  the  private  fortunes  of  gentlemen 
whose  houses  are  along  the  road,  he  is  consulted 
and  listened  to  with  much  deference."  The  same 
writer  remarks,  that  when  Americans  travel  they 
do  not  carry  about  with  them  dozens  of  shirts 
like  the  French,  but,  while  it  is  true  that  they 
carry  but  few,  they  are  of  fine  linen  and  always 
beautifully  washed;  they  do  not  admire  the 
French  custom  of  filling  up  a  wardrobe  with 
shirts  which  become  full  of  damp,  and  whose 
number  is  but  a  proof  of  extravagance.  In  this 
connection  it  is  comforting  to  learn  from  Brissot 
that  American  washerwomen  were  expeditious, 
which  must  have  been  of  peculiar  importance  to 
the  traveller  with  but  few  shirts.  They  charged 
three  and  a  half  or  four  shillings  for  washing  a 
dozen  pieces.  He  has  already  told  us  that  bag 
gage  exceeding  fourteen  pounds  had  to  be  paid  for 
extra,  which  perhaps  explains  the  limited  quantity 
to  which  Americans  accustomed  themselves. 

Turning  from  travel  by  land  to  that  by  water, 
we  will  let  Brissot  "say  a  word  on  the  packet- 
boats  of  America  and  the  advantages  which  they 
offer :  although  in  my  opinion  it  would  be  more  ad 
vantageous  and  even  cheaper  to  select  the  land 
journey,  still  I  must  praise  the  cleanliness  and 
order  which  reigns  in  these  packets.  The  cabin 
of  the  one  upon  which  I  travelled  contained 
[210] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

fourteen  beds  in  two  tiers,  one  above  the  other. 
Each  had  its  own  little  window.  The  room  was 
well  ventilated  so  that  one  did  not  breathe  that 
disgusting  air  which  contaminates  the  packets 
on  the  channel.  They  were  freshly  varnished. 
The  captain,  two  men,  and  a  negro  cook  formed 
the  entire  crew.  The  table  was  good.  There  is 
not  a  town  along  this  coast  which  has  not  packets 
of  this  sort,  plying  to  New  York  as  well  as  to 
New  Haven  and  New  London  and  all  are  equally 
clean  and  offer  the  same  comforts  to  travellers. 
You  can  be  sure  that  there  is  nothing  like  it  in 
the  Old  World."  Nor  was  travelling  by  coastwise 
packets  limited  to  short  distances,  for  Michaux 
(junior)  says  they  ran  at  frequent  intervals  be- 
between  Charleston  and  New  York,  a  trip  which 
generally  took  ten  days,  and  cost  from  forty  to 
fifty  dollars:  "Some  of  these  boats  have  rooms 
tastefully  arranged  and  comfortably  disposed  for 
passengers  who  every  year  go  north  in  large  num 
bers  to  avoid  the  sickly  season,  returning  to 
Charleston  in  November."  It  took  his  father  from 
the  16th  till  the  27th  of  July  for  his  journey 
aboard  one  of  these  packets  from  Charleston  to 
Philadelphia.  From  St.  Mery  we  learn  that  the 
American  sailing  ships  which  carried  passengers 
from  Europe  were  considered  very  satisfactory 
and,  to  judge  from  the  detailed  menus  which  he 
gives  us  of  various  repasts  on  board,  they  must 

[211] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

have  lived  very  well.  He  found  the  American 
sailors  sensible  folk,  but  remarks  that  they  were 
great  believers  in  luck,  and  did  not  like  to  leave 
port  on  Saturday. 

It  would  appear  from  a  number  of  observa 
tions  throughout  their  writings  that  the  French 
were  not  pleased  with  the  American  system  of 
delivering  mails,  nor  are  we  surprised  when 
Chastellux  describes  one  of  the  methods  employed 
to  forward  letters  to  their  destination:  "Several 
times  during  the  stay  of  the  French  army  at 
Williamsburg,  my  letters  addressed  to  Rocham- 
beau  were  entrusted  to  travellers,  postal  arrange 
ments  not  being  as  yet  regularly  established,  and 
Americans  often  lacking  the  money  to  pay  mes 
sengers.  The  travellers  who  were  not  going 
straight  to  Williamsburg  generally  deposited  these 
letters  in  some  inn  at  the  cross-roads,  leaving 
word  that  the  first  chance  should  be  taken  to 
send  them  on  to  their  address,  but  it  often  hap 
pened  that  they  remained  for  months  together  on 
a  mantelpiece  without  anyone  having  thought  of 
forwarding  them,  although  the  opportunity  had 
often  arisen.  Finally,  some  honest  traveller  espied 
them  and  took  charge  of  them  out  of  good  will, 
and  without  anyone  asking  him  to  do  so." 

As  compensating  for  delays  of  this  sort  just  de 
scribed,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  entire  absence 
of  the  temporary  but  annoying  ones  caused  by  high- 
[212] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

waymen,  then  so  prevalent  in  different  parts  of 
Europe.  Travellers  were  relieved  from  those  ex 
pensive  dangers  of  the  road,  although  it  appears 
from  Brissot  that  they  had  not  all  learned  of  this 
fact  in  advance:  "I  travelled  with  a  Frenchman 
who,  thinking  that  he  had  much  to  fear  in  a  wild 
country,  had  provided  himself  with  pistols.  The 
Americans  laughed  at  this  precaution  and  ad 
vised  him  to  put  them  in  his  trunk.  He  had  the 
good  sense  to  believe  them."  Nor  was  this  his 
only  comment  on  the  safety  of  our  highways: 
"On  the  road  in  Connecticut  you  will  often  find 
pretty  girls  alone  either  driving  a  cabriolet  or 
on  horseback  galloping  hard,  with  a  smart  hat 
on  their  heads,  a  white  apron,  and  a  dress  of  col 
ored  stuff;  examples  which  prove  at  the  same 
time  their  precociousness  (since,  although  young, 
they  are  left  to  themselves),  the  security  of  the 
roads,  and  the  general  guilelessness  prevailing. 
You  will  find  them  risking  themselves  alone  with 
out  protectors  in  public  vehicles;  I  was  wrong  to 
say  risking  themselves — who  could  offend  them? 
They  are  there  under  the  protection  of  public 
manners  and  their  own  innocence."  Even  the 
presence  of  Indians  in  the  settled  parts  of  the 
country  meant  no  danger  to  women,  but  it  was 
difficult  to  convince  foreigners  of  this  fact.  Mon 
sieur  Novion,  while  riding  in  northern  New  York 
with  the  Marquise  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  was  dis- 

[3l3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

tressed  at  the  risk  she  ran  by  conversing  with  a 
tall  Indian  whose  costume  consisted  of  a  blue 
loin-cloth.  When  he  expressed  his  horror  at  the 
danger  incurred  by  residing  in  such  a  country, 
she  vouchsafed  him  the  feminine  reply  that  not 
only  was  she  not  afraid  of  this  Indian,  an  old 
acquaintance  of  hers,  but  also  "if  I  had  told  him 
to  throw  his  tomahawk  at  you,  to  protect  me, 
he  would  have  done  it!"  "On  our  return  he 
confided  to  my  husband  that  I  had  strange  friends, 
and  that  he  had  decided  to  go  and  live  in  New 
York  City,  where  civilization  seemed  further  ad 
vanced!" 

Before  the  Revolution  took  place  little  atten 
tion  had  of  necessity  been  paid  to  intercommuni 
cation  between  the  different  colonies,  but  we 
gather  from  Brissot  that  this  at  once  began  to 
improve  when  the  colonies  united  to  obtain  their 
independence,  for  then  they  promptly  realized  how 
vital  was  such  intercourse.  As  the  country  came 
to  be  more  and  more  settled,  roads  were  pushed 
out  in  every  direction.  Washington  writes  to 
Lafayette  from  Mount  Vernon,  July  25,  1785: 
"Roads  are  being  prepared  and  the  route  will  be 
made  easy  [to  the  fertile  plains  of  Ohio],  by  the 
waters  of  the  Potomac  and  the  James  Rivers, 
and,  a  propos  of  these  navigable  streams,  I  will 
tell  you  that  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  that 
the  subscriptions,  particularly  for  the  Potomac, 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

surpass  our  greatest  hopes.  This  plan  of  naviga 
tion  if  it  succeeds,  will  improve  the  relations  be 
tween  the  States  bordering  on  the  Atlantic  and 
all  the  Western  territory,  and  will  produce  great 
commercial  and  political  results.  This  last  point 
is  the  spur  to  all  my  efforts,  for  great  evils  would 
result  from  the  separation  which  would  inevita 
bly  take  place  if  the  difficulties  of  this  communi 
cation  were  not  removed  by  the  time  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Mississippi  is  opened  to  us." 

Among  the  various  Frenchmen  who  travelled 
out  into  this  new  western  and  southern  country 
were  two  expressly  commissioned  to  report  thereon 
to  their  government,  Minister  Genet  sending 
Michaux  (the  elder),  and  Minister  Adet  General 
Collot.  Genet,  desirous  of  making  investigations 
in  Louisiana,  wrote  home,  July  25,  1793:  "I  hast 
ened  to  select  an  agent  fit  to  conduct  our  negotia 
tions  on  the  ground.  I  cast  my  eyes  on  Citizen 
Michaux,  botanist  of  the  Jardin  National,  who  is 
about  to  undertake  a  journey  to  the  southern  sea 
to  enrich  his  native  land  with  new  discoveries. 
Citizen  Michaux  is  in  every  respect  an  estimable 
man,  enjoying  great  distinction  here;  he  speaks 
English  and  also  knows  both  the  idiom  and  cus 
toms  of  the  Indian  tribes.  He  is  therefore  the 
very  man  I  would  select,  especially  since,  as  he 
is  accustomed  to  travelling  in  the  American  back 
woods,  his  departure  could  not  arouse  any  suspi- 

f2l51 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

cion";  so  off  Michaux  went  to  "Kentuckey"  and 
the  Mississippi.  On  June  21,  1796,  Minister  Adet 
wrote  to  Paris:  "I  have  instructed  General  Col- 
lot  to  travel  throughout  all  the  country  to  the 
west  of  the  Alleghanys,  watered  by  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi;  to  take  detailed  notes  upon  the 
character  and  opinion  of  the  inhabitants,  as  to 
population,  its  annual  increase,  what  its  com 
merce  amounts  to,  and  what  it  ought  to  be. 
Besides,  I  have  instructed  him  to  reconnoitre  all 
military  points  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers,  and  to  draw  plans  of  places  whose  loca 
tion  it  might  be  interesting  to  know."  We  sus 
pect  that  neither  Genet  nor  Adet  found  the  re 
ports  of  Michaux  or  Collet  so  useful  for  his  political 
purposes  as  they  have  proved  for  our  literary  one. 
Certainly  in  the  case  of  Michaux,  politics  was 
ever  secondary  to  botany.  Indeed,  he  was  only 
about  Genet's  business  from  July  15,  1793,  until 
December  13  of  the  same  year,  which  was  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  eleven  years  during  which 
he  botanized  from  the  West  Indies  as  far  north 
as  Hudson's  Bay. 

An  agreeable  as  well  as  instructive  description 
of  a  day  spent  in  an  American  stage-coach  comes 
from  Brissot.  Let  us  invite,  nay,  recommend, 
our  reader  to  seat  himself  next  that  interesting 
Frenchman,  for  thus,  at  his  ease,  will  he  see  eye  to 
eye  with  the  Frenchman,  regaling  himself  betimes 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

with  the  sage  observations  of  that  shrewd  ob 
server:  "I  left  New  York  August  25,  1788,  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  had  engaged  a 
place  in  the  diligence  called  the  New  Line  of 
Stages  to  Philadelphia.  It  starts  every  day  ex 
cept  Sunday,  both  from  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  two  stages  from  each  place,  one  bringing 
you  to  your  destination  during  the  day  and  the 
other  taking  a  day  and  a  half.  You  change 
coaches  seven  or  eight  times  on  the  way.  Before 
reaching  the  coach  it  was  necessary  to  cross  the 
North  River  in  an  open  boat.  There  are  four 
ferries  on  the  way  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia, 
besides  this  crossing  of  the  North  River.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  sooner  or  later  bridges  will  re 
place  these  ferry-boats,  which  are  often  danger 
ous.  One  lands  at  Paulus-Hook  and  finds  the 
stagecoach  waiting.  They  say  the  crossing  is 
two  miles  long;  it  costs  six  cents  in  New  York 
money.  The  stagecoach  has  four  wheels  and  is 
an  open  vehicle  whose  sides  have  double  curtains 
of  leather  and  cloth  which  let  down  when  it  rains 
or  when  the  sun  proves  annoying,  and  which  can 
be  raised  when  you  wish  to  enjoy  the  air  and  the 
view  of  the  country.  These  vehicles  are  badly 
hung  but,  the  road  over  which  they  run  being  of 
sand  and  gravel,  one  suffers  no  discomfort.  The 
horses  are  good,  and  fast  enough.  The  coaches 
have  four  seats  and  hold  a  dozen  people.  Light 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

luggage  is  put  under  one's  feet,  and  trunks  are 
fastened  on  behind,  but  you  are  not  permitted  to 
have  too  many.  This  is  the  only  way  of  travel 
ling,  nor  is  it  a  bad  one.  There  is  no  hiring  of 
private  postchaises  and  horses,  which  is  just  as 
well.  Such  individuals  as  do  not  care  to  take 
the  stage  have  a  cabriolet  with  one  horse.  I  wish 
the  French  who  have  travelled  in  these  stages 
would  compare  them  with  those  of  France, — 
those  heavy  diligences  into  which  eight  or  ten 
people  are  stuffed,  or  with  those  cabriolets  around 
Paris  where  people,  packed  together,  are  deprived 
of  air  by  the  dirty  driver  who  makes  a  horrid 
noise ; — with  those  miserable  chaises  dragged  along 
by  two  horses,  where  one  is  in  a  slanting  position, 
annoying  and  annoyed,  and  where  one  breathes 
poisoned  air — all  these  vehicles,  although  they 
run  over  beautiful  roads,  make  only  a  league  an 
hour.  Ah !  if  the  Americans  had  the  same  kind 
of  roads,  with  what  speed  would  they  not  travel, 
since,  in  spite  of  the  poorness  of  their  roads,  one 
completes  during  the  day  the  ninety-six  miles 
(or  thirty-two  leagues)  which  separate  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  So  it  is  that  after  only  a  cen 
tury  and  a  half,  and  in  spite  of  a  thousand  ob 
stacles  Americans  are  already  superior  to  nations 
which  have  existed  fifteen  centuries.  There  are 
to  be  found  in  these  stages  men  of  every  profes 
sion.  They  succeed  one  another  with  great  rapid- 
[218! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ity;  one  who  is  only  going  fifteen  miles  gives  up 
his  place  to  a  traveller  who  is  going  further, — a 
mother  comes  into  the  stage  with  her  daughter  to 
go  to  dinner  ten  miles  away,  whence  she  will  be 
brought  back  by  another  stage;  there  are,  there 
fore,  constantly  new  acquaintances  to  be  made. 
The  frequency  of  these  vehicles,  the  ease  of  get 
ting  seats  even  for  a  short  distance,  the  fixed 
prices  (and  that  too,  low)  one  and  all  prove  an 
invitation  to  Americans  to  travel.  The  price  is 
three  cents  a  mile.  These  stages  possess  the  pe 
culiar  advantage  of  disseminating  the  idea  of 
equality.  A  Member  of  Congress  is  seated  be 
side  a  laborer  who  voted  for  him  and  they  talk 
together  with  perfect  familiarity.  You  do  not 
see  people  putting  on  airs,  which  you  find  so 
often  in  France,  where  a  man  of  the  world  would 
blush  to  travel  in  so  unworthy  a  vehicle  as 
a  public  diligence.  Private  carriages  humiliate 
those  unable  to  afford  them;  therefore,  it  is  well 
for  America  that  the  nature  of  things  prevents 
this  distinction  between  private  and  public  ve 
hicles.  The  ordinary  man — that  is  to  say  an 
artisan  or  workman,  who  finds  himself  in  these 
stages  with  a  distinguished  citizen,  keeps  quiet, 
or  tries,  if  he  takes  part  in  the  conversation,  to 
rise  to  the  level  of  the  other, — at  least  he  learns 
something.  The  man  of  distinction,  for  the  same 
reason,  has  less  pride  and  learns  more  of  the  true 
[219] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

sentiments  of  the  people.  I  travelled  all  through 
New  Jersey  in  a  coach  of  this  kind  with  the  son 
of  Governor  Livingstone.  I  would  not  have 
known  it  (so  unostentatious  and  plain  was  his 
appearance)  if,  from  time  to  time,  the  innkeepers 
at  the  stops  had  not  saluted  him  with  an  air  of 
respectful  familiarity.  They  told  me  that  the 
Governor  himself  often  availed  himself  of  these 
stages.  You  will  have  an  idea  of  this  respected 
man  who,  at  the  same  time,  wrote,  governed,  and 
labored,  when  you  learn  that  he  did  himself  the 
honor  of  being  called  'The  Jersey  Farmer.'  The 
advantages  afforded  by  these  stagecoaches  cause 
women  to  make  use  of  them.  They  are  often 
alone  and  unaccompanied  by  friends,  but  they 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  insolence  or  from  the 
questionable  and  sometimes  loose  conversation  of 
young  men — a  sort  of  talk  which  is,  unfortunately, 
too  common  in  French  and  English  stagecoaches. 
This  association  of  men  and  women  while  travelling 
cannot  but  maintain  purity  of  manners,  and  prove 
that  they  are  respected;  if  they  were  not,  women 
would  keep  away.  I  have  heard  Frenchmen  find 
fault  with  the  frequent  change  of  coaches,  but 
this  custom  is  reasonable  and  has  advantages. 
In  the  first  place,  the  drivers  are  also  changed, 
for  they  live  in  different  towns  along  the  road, 
and  arrange  among  themselves  to  furnish  the 
horses  and  coaches.  A  New  Yorker  drives  the 
[  220  1 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

coach  as  far  as  Newark,  and  an  inhabitant  thereof 
takes  it  on  to  Elizabethtown.  Often  it  is  the 
owner  of  the  coach  who  drives,  sometimes  he  has 
it  driven  by  a  servant.  He  is  sure,  therefore, 
that  his  horses  will  not  be  worn  out  with  fatigue, 
and  that  his  coach  will  be  properly  kept  up, 
which  would  not  be  the  case  if  the  drivers  were 
strangers.  The  same  horses  and  coach  take  back 
travellers  who  are  on  the  return  trip,  and  this 
arrangement  enables  the  stage-owners  to  make  a 
low  charge.  It  would  cost  me  about  three  times 
as  much  to  travel  in  France,  besides  the  petty 
vexations  of  paying  postillions,  which  is  unknown 
here.  It  is  true  that  the  coaches  do  not  carry 
heavy  luggage  but  this  is  not  so  bad,  for  trav 
ellers  take  only  what  is  necessary,  that  is  to  say, 
a  small  piece  of  hand-luggage.  They  are,  there 
fore,  forced  to  be  simple,  and  while  travelling  do 
not  load  themselves  like  Europeans  with  a  lot  of 
troublesome  necessities.  An  American  travels 
with  his  comb  and  his  razor,  a  couple  of  shirts, 
and  some  cravats." 

Almost  all  the  French  travellers  express  sur 
prise  that  innkeepers  in  America  were  generally 
men  of  substance  and  of  importance  in  the  com 
munity,  frequently  being  retired  army  officers, 
sometimes  of  high  rank,  and  far  different  from 
the  low  fellows  who  kept  inns  in  Europe.  Chas- 
tellux  tells  of  an  inn  called  "Morehouse  Tavern," 
[221  ] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

whose  landlord  was  a  colonel,  and  Segur  confesses 
that  "I  was  somewhat  surprised  upon  entering  a 
tavern  to  find  that  it  was  kept  by  a  Captain,  a 
Major,  or  a  Colonel,  who  conversed  equally  well 
on  his  campaigns  against  the  English,  upon  the 
cultivation  of  his  land,  the  sale  of  his  products, 
or  his  income.  I  was  still  more  astonished  when, 
having  replied  to  some  questions  concerning  my 
family  and  having  told  them  that  my  father  was 
a  General  and  a  Cabinet  Minister,  to  have  them 
ask  what  was  his  other  profession  or  business. 
I  always  found  in  inns  clean  rooms,  tables  well 
served  (abundant  but  wholesome  and  simple), 
drinks  a  trifle  too  strong,  rum,  or  cinnamon  tea, 
weak  coffee,  and  excellent  tea." 

From  Cromot  du  Bourg  we  learn  that  not  only 
were  our  innkeepers  occasionally  former  army  offi 
cers,  but  also  that  some  of  them  were  in  the  learned 
professions.  Chastellux  says:  "Mr.  Poops  took 
me  to  Mr.  Smith's  inn;  this  Mr.  Smith  was  both 
innkeeper  and  lawyer.  He  had  quite  a  pretty 
library,  and  his  son,  whom  Mr.  Poops  presented 
to  me  upon  my  arrival,  appeared  a  well-educated 
and  well-mannered  youth.  I  begged  him  to  dine 
with  us,  as  well  as  another  young  man  who  was 
lodged  there.  This  latter  had  come  from  the 
island  of  Dominique,  where  he  was  born,  to  finish 
his  studies  among  the  Americans,  to  whom  he 
seemed  much  more  attached  than  to  the  English. 
[  222  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

He  had  chosen  Easton  as  healthier  and  more 
peaceful  than  the  other  towns  of  America,  and 
he  found  in  Mr.  Smith's  lessons  and  books  all 
the  instruction  that  he  could  desire." 

Brissot,  the  philosophical,  perceives  good  reasons 
for  the  importance  in  the  community  enjoyed  by 
those  who  kept  the  inns:  "An  innkeeper  is  natur 
ally  respected  in  a  country  where  money  is  scarce, 
because  he  receives  more  of  it  than  other  people. 
Money  has  at  its  command  the  necessities  of  life 
and — as  a  result — means  a  good  bed,  good  things 
to  eat,  attentive  servants,  and  yet  one  does  not 
give  tips  in  the  inns  nor  to  the  drivers  of  stage 
coaches,  which  is  an  excellent  plan.  Beside  the 
fact  that  this  tipping  becomes  insupportable  be 
cause  of  the  persecution  it  causes,  it  also  gives 
men  an  air  of  baseness,  and  accustoms  them  to 
servile  cupidity."  Bayard  says  that  "we  were 
lodged  with  Madame  Throkmorton,  a  relative  of 
General  Washington.  Board  cost  three  dollars 
a  week.  This  good  American  lady,  because  of 
carelessness  uncommon  among  those  who  keep 
boarding  houses,  made  rather  a  mess  of  her  affairs. 
Madame  Throkmorton  had  about  forty  boarders, 
for  whom  she  set  an  excellent  table."  We  also 
find  a  unanimity  of  opinion  upon  the  cleanliness 
everywhere  observable  in  the  inns.  From  Bris 
sot  we  learn:  "We  never  stopped  at  a  tavern  with 
out  finding  everywhere  cleanliness,  decency,  and 

[223] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

dignity.  The  table  is  often  served  by  a  modest 
and  pretty  young  lady,  by  an  amiable  mother 
whose  pleasant  face  has  not  been  affected  by  age, 
and  who  still  preserves  her  freshness;  by  men 
with  that  air  of  dignity  which  equality  gives,  and 
who  are  neither  ignoble  nor  low  like  most  of  our 
innkeepers." 

The  Frenchmen  never  overcame  their  surprise 
at  the  lack  of  distinction  of  caste  between  the 
host  and  the  customers  of  an  inn;  even  unaristo- 
cratic  Brissot  noticed  that  "the  innkeeper  (Mrs. 
Robinson)  was  taking  tea  with  her  maids;  she 
invited  us  to  join  her  and  we  accepted.  We  have 
nothing,  and  I  repeat  it,  which  is  comparable  to 
this  in  France.  The  maids  in  the  inns  are  dressed 
very  neatly  and  have  a  modest  and  honest  ap 
pearance,  and  this  remark  may  be  made  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States."  From  the  exiled 
aristocrat,  the  Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld,  we  have: 
"It  appeared  strange  to  Europeans  to  see  the 
mistresses  of  inns  and  their  housemaids  (who 
served  the  dinner  and  breakfast)  sit  down  while 
waiting  till  you  ask  them  for  a  plate;  and  that 
the  innkeeper  attended  to  your  wants  at  table 
with  his  hat  on  his  head, — but  in  America  the 
innkeeper  is  often  a  Captain  or  a  Major.  I  have 
seen  stagecoach  drivers  who  were  Colonels,  so 
simple  is  life  in  America."  From  Lafayette  we 
have  something  to  the  same  effect:  "These  things 

[224] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

are  very  different  from  Europe.  The  master  and 
the  mistress  sit  down  at  table  with  you,  do  the 
honors  of  an  excellent  repast,  and  when  you 
leave,  you  pay  without  bargaining.  When  you 
do  not  want  to  go  to  an  inn,  you  find  country- 
houses  where  the  fact  that  you  are  a  good  Ameri 
can  causes  you  to  be  received  with  the  atten 
tions  which  you  would  have  in  Europe  from  a 
friend." 

It  is  Chastellux  that  sets  out  most  in  detail  this 
un-European  system  of  paid  hospitality,  generally 
to  be  found  in  such  towns  as  lacked  inns:  "The 
place  where  I  was  to  stop  was  Farmington.  Mr. 
Wadsworth,  fearing  that  I  would  not  find  a  good 
inn  there,  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  one 
of  his  relatives  named  Lewis ;  he  assured  me  that 
I  would  be  well  received  without  inconvenienc 
ing  anybody,  and  need  not  be  embarrassed  be 
cause  I  would  pay  just  as  if  at  an  inn;  and  it  was 
true,  for  when  the  inns  are  bad  or  the  distances 
between  them  do  not  conform  with  the  days' 
journeys  which  one  plans  to  make,  it  is  the  cus 
tom  in  America  to  ask  hospitality  from  some  pri 
vate  individual  who  has  room  for  you  in  his 
house,  and  for  your  horses  in  his  stable.  In  this 
way  one  converses  with  one's  host  as  an  equal, 
but  pays  him  as  though  he  were  only  an  inn 
keeper."  He  comments  again  upon  this  custom: 
"We  left  there  about  noon  in  order  to  go  on 

[2251 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

twenty-four  miles  to  the  only  house  where  we 
could  find  a  comfortable  place.  It  was  not  an 
inn,  but  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Hunter,  was  glad  to 
receive  strangers.  This  difference  between  a  real 
inn  and  paid  hospitality  is  to  the  financial  advan 
tage  of  foreigners,  because  in  America,  as  in  Eng 
land,  innkeepers  pay  high  taxes,  and  they  reim 
burse  themselves  by  exorbitant  charges.  Mr. 
Hunter  received  us  very  well  and  in  a  very  clean 
house."  Du  Bourg  tells  us  that  at  Mr.  Wacker's 
house  near  Baltimore,  "they  gave  us  an  excellent 
supper  and  excellent  beds,  our  servants  and  horses 
were  well  treated,  and  when  it  came  time  to  pay, 
he  refused  to  accept  more  than  five  shillings. ' '  Nor 
was  there  any  danger  of  travellers  faring  badly  at 
these  private  houses,  for  "the  Americans  live  well," 
says  Brissot,  "and  treat  strangers  as  they  treat 
themselves." 

Perrin  du  Lac  was  the  only  one  to  make  any 
reference  to  the  keeping  of  a  register  of  guests. 
"One  day  in  Newark,"  says  he,  "the  landlord 
showed  us  a  thick  book  in  which  it  was  the  cus 
tom  to  inscribe  the  names  of  strangers,  at  the 
head  of  which  we  read  those  of  Washington  and 
his  wife.  Some  had  added  phrases  expressing 
their  impressions  of  this  picturesque  place.  The 
French  ones  had  the  distinctive  character  of  their 
nation — love  of  pleasure  and  of  women;  the  Eng 
lish  were  profound  or  libertine,  but  the  Americans 
[226] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

were  content  to  write  their  names  without  add 
ing  anything  thereto." 

These  writers  do  not  seem  unanimous  upon  the 
question  of  expense  at  American  taverns.  De  Kalb 
writes,  June  18,  1777:  "Food,  lodgings,  horses — 
everything  is  extremely  high."  Brissot  says:  "We 
dined  at  the  tavern  at  Cambridge.  I  never  paid  so 
dearly  for  a  dinner — about  ten  shillings  or  eight 
French  livres  for  beef,  two  chickens,  a  half  bottle 
of  madeira,  a  pot  of  porter,  and  two  cups  of  coffee. 
The  coffee  alone  cost  us  a  shilling.  It  would  be 
unfair  not  to  give  the  reason  for  this  dearness; — 
Cambridge  is  a  university  town  and  much  fre 
quented."  On  the  other  hand,  while  going  from 
New  York  to  Philadelphia  Michaux  (junior)  paid 
at  the  taverns  where  the  coach  stopped  "a  piastre 
for  dinner,  a  half  of  that  for  supper  or  breakfast, 
and  the  same  for  lodging."  Surely  not  exorbi 
tant  prices!  Brissot  also  shows  us  that  reason 
able  arrangements  could  be  made:  "Board  by  the 
week — and  almost  all  the  strangers  and  Members  of 
Congress  are  in  boarding-houses — was  four  or  five 
dollars,  which  is  thirty-one  to  forty-two  livres,  and 
one  paid  extra  for  French  wine."  Michaux  (junior) 
remarks  that  "boarding  houses  in  New  York 
charge  8  to  12  piastres  a  week.  Living  is  cheaper 
there  than  in  Charleston,"  where  they  charge  "12 
to  20  piastres  a  week."  In  Philadelphia  he  found 
the  prices  even  lower,  paying  only  6  to  10  piastres 
[227] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

a  week,  but  La  Rochefoucauld  records  them  as  "8 
to  12,  without  wine,  lights,  or  a  fire  in  your  bed 
room."  Deux-Ponts  noticed  that  board  cost  about 
twice  as  much  per  week  in  Philadelphia  and  the 
other  larger  cities  near  the  seaboard  as  in  the 
towns  of  the  interior. 

There  is  one  point,  however,  upon  which  the 
foreigners  are  all  quite  decided  in  their  criticism, 
nor  will  you  blame  them  when  you  hear  from 
St.  Mery  that  he  "protested  against  the  Ameri 
can  custom  prevalent  in  all  hotels  of  putting  an 
other  man  into  the  bed  in  which  you  were  sleep 
ing."  Michaux  (junior)  says:  "There  were  always 
several  beds  in  each  sleeping  room,"  and  he  reports 
that  at  Mr.  Patrick  Archibald's  near  Pittsburgh 
there  were  four  beds  in  one  room  to  accommodate 
the  ten  members  of  his  family,  plus  any  passing 
strangers  who  might  wish  to  spend  the  night! 
No  wonder  the  French  thought  us  an  easy-going 
and  harmonious  people !  La  Rochefoucauld  says  of 
Bath,  New  York :  "Although  we  slept  in  the  tavern 
we  passed  almost  all  our  days  in  the  Captain's 
house  where  we  were  quieter  than  in  that  noisy 
inn,  no  bigger  than  your  hand,  and  so  full  of 
people  that  one  night  we  slept  twenty-five  in  two 
rooms  and  six  beds,  and  these  rooms  were  only 
little  garrets  open  to  the  wind  and  the  rain." 
This  must  have  been  a  singularly  distressing  cus 
tom,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  even  the  imper- 
[228] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

turbable  Segur  says  that  he  found  it  difficult  to 
accustom  himself  thereto.  Prince  de  Broglie 
gratefully  records:  "I  had  so  great  an  aversion 
to  sleeping  in  company  that  I  was  accorded  the 
favor  of  not  being  waked  up  during  the  night  by 
some  unknown  newcomer."  The  Marquise  de  la 
Tour  du  Pin  was  awakened  at  Lebanon,  New 
York,  by  a  volley  of  French  oaths  from  an  ad 
joining  room.  Next  morning  her  husband's  friend 
Monsieur  Chambeau,  told  her  that  "about  mid 
night  he  had  been  aroused  by  a  man  who  with 
out  more  ado  had  slipped  into  the  empty  half  of 
his  bed.  Furious  at  this  invasion,  he  promptly 
jumped  out  the  other  side  and  passed  the  night 
in  a  chair  listening  to  the  snores  of  his  com 
panion,  who  seemed  in  no  wise  disturbed  by  his 
anger." 

St.  Mery  praises  the  watchmen  who,  in  Phila 
delphia,  called  out  the  hours  from  10  p.  M.  to  5 
A.  M.,  and  comments  upon  how  pleasant  it  is  to 
lie  in  a  warm  bed  and  hear  the  watchmen  shout 
that  it  is  snowing  outside !  We  can  hardly  agree 
with  him  when  he  adds:  "They  also  possess  a 
peculiar  value  for  travellers  because  they  arouse 
them  at  any  hour  desired  so  that  they  may  set 
out  upon  their  journey  betimes."  Yes,  but  how 
about  the  interrupted  slumber  of  the  rest  of  the 
street  ? 

In  closing,  and  by  way  of  realizing  how  much 
[229] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

better  our  ancestors  fared  while  on  a  journey 
than  any  one  then  travelling  in  Europe,  Brissot's 
conclusions  are  illuminating:  "We  reached  the 
first  inn  at  Spenser,  a  growing  village  in  the  midst 
of  the  woods;  thus  far  there  are  only  three  or 
four  houses  to  be  seen.  The  inn  was  only  half 
built,  but  the  completed  portion  had  that  air  of 
cleanliness  which  pleases  because  it  announces 
comfort  and  those  simple  and  refined  customs  of 
which  there  is  not  even  a  suspicion  in  our  villages. 
The  rooms  were  clean,  the  beds  good,  the  linen 
white,  the  supper  passable;  cider,  tea,  punch,  all 
that  for  a  shilling  and  a  half  or  two  shillings  a 
head;  we  were  four.  Now,  my  friend,  compare 
this  order  of  things  with  that  which  you  have 
encountered  a  hundred  times  in  our  French  inns; 
dirty  ugly  rooms,  beds  full  of  bugs  (those  insects 
which  Sterne  called  'the  legitimate  inhabitants  of 
inns,  always  supposing,'  said  he,  'that  a  long  pos 
session  gives  a  legal  right'),  linen  badly  bleached 
and  giving  out  an  unpleasant  odor,  evil  coverlids, 
wine  almost  always  spoiled,  and  all  this  for  its 
weight  in  gold;  rapacious  servants,  disagreeable 
except  when  their  hopes  are  aroused  by  your  style 
of  travelling,  rushing  toward  a  rich  arrival  but 
insolent  toward  one  whom  they  consider  of  small 
importance; — there  you  have  the  eternal  tor 
ments  which  attend  travellers  in  France, — add  to 
those  the  fear  of  being  robbed,  and  the  precau- 
l23ol 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

tions  which  one  must  take  every  night  to  prevent 
theft,  while  throughout  the  United  States  you 
travel  without  fear  and  unharmed,  and,  even 
deep  in  the  forests,  you  repose  tranquilly  in  open 
rooms  or  houses  with  unlocked  doors.  Now 
judge  which  is  the  country  that  deserves  the  name 
of  civilized,  and  which  one  offers  the  aspect  of 
general  happiness !  Cleanliness  you  know,  my 
friend,  is  happiness,  and  this  is  why  you  find  it 
everywhere  among  the  Americans,  even  down  to 
the  smallest  details." 


281 


CHAPTER  X 

EDUCATION,    COLLEGES,    NEWSPAPERS, 
INTEREST  IN  PUBLIC  AFFAIRS 

SUPPOSE  that  some  French  traveller,  who  spoke 
no  English,  should  find  himself  in  the  Grand 
Central  Station,  New  York  City,  with  no  inter 
preter  at  hand,  and  suppose  he  tried,  by  speaking 
Latin,  to  make  himself  understood  by  some  one 
of  the  passing  throng — how  long  do  you  suppose 
he  would  have  to  wait  to  accomplish  his  purpose  ? 
It  makes  one  hungry  and  thirsty  and  sleepy  to 
think  upon  the  hours  and  the  endurance  such  a 
task  would  necessitate!  And  would  this  not  be 
equally  true  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  ex 
cept  in  certain  learned  university  circles?  Yet 
during  Revolutionary  times  the  ability  to  speak 
Latin  was  not  uncommon  among  our  educated 
classes.  Blanchard,  quartermaster  of  the  French 
forces,  tells  of  a  trip  to  a  garden  two  miles  out  of 
Providence  with  General  Varnum,  commander  of 
the  local  militia,  to  play  at  bowls,  and  inciden 
tally  to  partake  of  punch  and  tea;  although  he 
knew  only  a  few  words  of  English,  he  got  on 
famously,  because  "  General  Varnum  spoke  Latin." 

[282] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

On  another  occasion  a  hussar  who  spoke  Latin 
acted  as  his  interpreter  while  purchasing  sup 
plies.  Nor  were  incidents  of  that  nature  reported 
only  by  this  erudite  quartermaster,  whose  inter 
esting  narrative  shows  his  enthusiasm  for  things 
American  tempered  only  by  his  disgust  at  Ameri 
can  bread,  and  the  constant  difficulty  of  procur 
ing  sufficient  for  Rochambeau's  troops,  even  on 
one  occasion  bringing  down  on  his  perplexed  head 
the  wrath  of  that  exacting  commander.  Times 
have  changed,  and  that  many  of  our  college-bred 
folk  could  then  converse  in  Latin  may  or  may 
not  have  been  a  fine  thing,  depending  on  one's 
point  of  view.  But  there  can  be  no  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  wide  enjoyment  of  a  common- 
school  education  by  the  contemporaries  of  those 
early  linguists,  which  was  then  as  surprising  to 
foreigners  as  is  to  us  the  facility  in  Latin  speech 
just  cited.  St.  Mery  was  only  one  of  many  to 
be  amazed  that  "everybody  in  the  United  States 
can  read  and  write,  although  almost  no  French 
sailor  is  able  to  do  so,"  and  Michaux  agrees  that 
"it  is  very  rare  to  find  an  American  who  does  not 
know  how  both  to  read  and  to  write."  Even  the 
ever-critical  Beau  jour  admits  that  "primary  in 
struction  is  widely  spread  in  the  different  States, 
and  especially  in  those  along  the  Atlantic,  where 
almost  everyone  knows  how  to  read,  write,  and 
figure."  Dupont  believed  that  "paternal  tender- 
[233] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ness,  by  not  setting  children  to  work  in  the  fields 
till  very  late,  is  the  reason  for  the  general  spread 
of  education."  Bonnet  was  much  struck  by  the 
fact  that,  not  content  with  schools  like  those  in 
Europe,  "in  several  places  they  have  also  estab 
lished  night  schools  for  such  young  people  as  have 
to  work  during  the  day." 

The  acquisition  in  youth  of  this  general  boon 
was  apt  to  be  a  painful  and  somewhat  harrowing 
experience,  if  Bayard  is  to  be  believed : "  The  school 
masters  employ  a  system  better  suited  for  training 
slaves  than  forming  citizens.  An  English  or  Ameri 
can  school-teacher  is  the  most  dreary  and  pedantic 
personage  that  limited  knowledge  has  ever  pro 
duced.  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  has  in  vain  recom 
mended  the  humane  methods  of  J.  J.  Rousseau. 
The  pedants  have  unanimously  rejected  them,  and 
continue  to  purchase  a  very  modest  amount  of  in 
formation  with  blows  of  the  whip.  Their  chief 
argument  in  favor  of  that  method  is  that  otherwise 
their  dignity  might  be  compromised  by  the  pranks 
of  a  bright  and  lively  child, — that  the  discipline  of 
their  school  runs  this  terrible  risk.  *  But  you  should 
dismiss  the  insubordinate/  you  answer  them. 
*A  detestable  plan,'  replies  the  vendor  of  knowl 
edge,  *  there  goes  my  pay  for  a  whole  quarter  right 
out  of  my  pocket !  It  is  better  to  whip  scholars 
than  to  let  them  go.'  The  unfortunates  who  toil 
under  the  direction  of  these  pedants  soon  lose 

[2341 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

that  sweetness  of  character  which  they  took  to 
school,  and  you  see  them  emerging  from  their 
torture-chamber  tormenting  and  beating  each 
other."  As  balm  for  our  aroused  sympathies, 
and  an  antidote  against  a  too-confiding  belief  in 
youthful  torture  as  depicted  by  Bayard,  it  is  re 
freshing  to  read  of  Blanchard's  experience,  who, 
a  few  days  after  his  landing,  visited  a  school  in 
Newport,  and  remarking  upon  the  handwriting 
of  a  little  girl  of  nine  years,  whose  beauty  and 
modesty  he  admired,  and  whose  name  (Abigale 
Earl)  he  kept,  puts  down  in  his  journal:  "She 
is  what  I  would  like  to  see  my  little  girl  when  she 
reaches  her  age,"  and  he  writes  in  her  copybook 
at  the  end  of  the  little  girl's  name,  "very  pretty." 
"The  schoolmaster,"  he  added,  "had  neither  the 
air  of  a  pedant  nor  of  a  missionary,  but  of  a  father 
of  a  family." 

Our  system  of  co-education  of  young  children 
was  a  novelty  to  the  Frenchmen.  Says  Perrin 
du  Lac:  "What  a  difference  between  their  sys 
tem  of  education  and  ours !  With  us,  from  the 
tender est  years,  the  little  girls  are  separated  from 
the  little  boys,  and  kept  under  the  eye  of  their 
mothers  or  governesses.  Here,  the  two  sexes  are 
continually  thrown  together  throughout  their 
childhood,  go  to  the  same  schools  and  are  taught 
alike.  When  their  public  education  is  finished 
at  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  the  girls  lose 
[235] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

none  of  the  freedom  enjoyed  in  childhood.  Their 
school-friends,  or  those  made  elsewhere,  visit 
them  freely  whether  or  not  their  parents  are 
present." 

It  was  a  sore  trial  to  several  of  the  Frenchmen 
that  we  did  not  promptly  decide  to  discard  the 
English  language  at  the  same  time  that  we  threw 
off  their  authority.  Even  the  wildest  optimist 
of  them  all  could  not  have  foreseen  a  day  when 
the  fringe  of  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  would 
have  grown  into  a  nation  with  twice  the  popula 
tion  of  the  British  Isles,  thus  becoming  much  the 
largest  English-speaking  power,  and  therefore 
there  were  then  some  grounds  for  the  French  de 
sire  that  we  should  renounce  the  language  of  as 
well  as  our  allegiance  to  our  English  foes.  But 
which  tongue  was  to  be  adopted  as  our  national 
language?  Here  was  a  puzzling  problem.  Two 
suggestions  then  advanced  deserve  notice,  be 
cause  they  came  from  such  thoughtful  and  acute 
observers  as  Brissot  and  Chastellux.  The  former 
holds  that  nothing  abrupt  should  be  attempted, 
as  a  change  in  our  speech  was  already  commenc 
ing  and  would  inevitably  develop:  "They  should, 
if  possible,  seek  to  obliterate  their  origin,  and  re 
move  every  trace  of  it,  and  since  their  language 
will  always  give  them  the  lie,  they  should  make 
such  innovations  in  it  as  they  have  attempted  in 
their  Constitution.  What  should  prevent  their 
[286] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

adopting  certain  terms  from  the  French?  The 
Americans  are  coming  nearer  to  other  peoples, 
and  they  are  moving  further  away  from  the 
English.  They  are  developing  a  language  which 
will  be  theirs  alone,  and  there  will  be  an  American 
language."  Chastellux,  on  the  other  hand,  dis 
cusses  a  proposition  that  we  should  adopt  Hebrew 
in  its  entirety  as  a  substitute  for  English.  If  he 
were  to  return  in  the  flesh  and  see  how  numerous 
are  the  Hebrew  signs  displayed  in  New  York  shop 
windows,  he  would  conclude  that  the  general 
esteem  enjoyed  by  our  Hebrew  fellow  citizens 
must  have  made  the  adoption  of  their  language 
a  more  serious  proposal  now  than  it  was  when  he 
wrote  of  it  so  flippantly.  Neither  of  those  writers 
took  so  gloomy  a  view  as  Beaujour,  who,  while 
despondently  submitting  to  our  continued  use  of 
English,  regretfully  points  out  that  "they  will 
never  have,  or  at  least  not  till  very  late,  a  litera 
ture  of  their  own,  because  they  lack  a  national 
language,  and  because  English  literature  will  take 
the  place  of  their  own!"  Shades  of  Poe  and 
Hawthorne,  of  Bret  Harte  and  Mark  Twain ! 

Chastellux  has  already  told  us  of  his  astonish 
ment  that  Mrs.  Meredith,  a  Philadelphia  lady, 
should  know  as  much  of  French  history  as  he 
himself,  but  even  greater  was  his  surprise  when, 
turning  from  the  realms  of  society  to  the  humbler 
sphere  of  a  public  inn,  he  finds  on  the  parlor 

[287] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

table  at  Courtheath  Tavern,  "Milton,  Addison, 
Richardson,  and  several  other  books  of  that 
sort,"  the  property  of  the  tavern-keeper's  two 
young  sisters,  and  read  by  them  when  not  busy 
waiting  on  travellers!  Another  glimpse  at  the 
education  then  enjoyed  by  American  women  is 
furnished  by  that  distinguished  exile,  the  Due  de 
La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  who  travelled  so  ex 
tensively  in  the  United  States  during  1795,  1796, 
and  1797.  He  noticed  at  the  house  of  old  General 
Warren  that  "his  wife,  of  the  same  age  as  he,  is 
much  more  interesting  in  conversation.  Contrary 
to  the  custom  of  American  women,  she  has  been 
busy  all  her  life  with  all  sorts  of  reading.  She 
has  even  printed  one  or  two  successful  volumes  of 
poetry,  and  has  written  a  history  of  the  Revolution 
which  she  had  the  modesty  and  good  taste  not 
to  wish  published  until  after  her  death.  This 
good  lady  of  seventy  is  amiable  and  has  lost  none 
of  her  activity,  nor  of  her  sensibility,  for  she  still 
mourns  a  son  whom  she  lost  in  the  War.  They 
assured  me  that  the  literary  occupations  of  this 
estimable  dame  have  not  diverted  her  attention 
from  the  duties  of  housekeeping."  These  two  ex 
amples,  from  widely  differing  social  spheres,  taken 
together  make  out  an  excellent  case  for  the  ade 
quacy  of  the  education  of  our  women,  whatever 
their  walk  in  life. 

As  forecasters  of  the  future,   upon  anything 
[238] 


Mercy  Warren,  wife  of  General  Warren. 

From  the  painting  by  Copley. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

except  the  generality  of  a  glorious  growth  for  the 
United  States,  the  French  were  distinctly  unsuc 
cessful — upon  any  details  of  the  said  growth 
they  usually  guessed  wrong:  Chesapeake  Bay  did 
not  become  our  great  centre,  we  did  not  grow 
steadily  more  lazy  and  lymphatic,  etc.,  etc.;  one 
successful  prophecy  by  Beaujour  anent  our  ad 
vance  in  the  mechanical  arts  therefore  deserves 
especial  attention:  "Although  the  Americans 
have  made  little  progress  in  science  and  the  arts, 
they  carefully  cultivate  the  more  usual  branches 
of  learning,  and  one  may  judge  from  results  that 
they  have  no  less  aptitude  for  them  than  other 
nations.  They  have  very  learned  men  in  medi 
cine  and  natural  history,  such  as  Dr.  Rush,  Wis- 
tar,  Muhlenburg,  Michel,  Barton,  and  some  very 
distinguished  amateurs  of  agriculture  like  Presi 
dent  Jefferson,  Chancellor  Livingston,  and  Hum 
phries.  In  inventions,  they  have  had  Franklin, 
Rittenhausen,  Gould,  and  they  now  have  Fulton. 
They  even  pretend  that  the  squaring  of  the 
circle,  attributed  to  the  Englishman,  Hadley,  is 
the  invention  of  their  compatriot,  Godfrey. 
While  Americans  show  a  marked  inclination  for 
science  and  the  mechanical  arts,  they  show  less 
for  literature  and  the  fine  arts.  Nevertheless 
they  have  had  some  writers  who  merit  distinc 
tion  such  as  Ramsay,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Barlow; 
the  latter's  poem  'The  Colombiad,'  although  lack- 
[289] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ing  animation  and  grace,  still  shows  some  origi 
nality,  and  is  full  of  liberal  ideas  and  generous 
sentiments.  One  may  therefore  predict  for  Ameri 
cans  the  greatest  success  in  science  and  the 
mechanical  arts,  but  not  the  same  successes  in  the 
fine  arts." 

That  our  colleges  were  performing  a  great  and 
a  patriotic  service  for  the  rising  generation,  and 
therefore  for  the  future  of  the  nation,  was  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  our  observers,  who  realized 
how  potent  was  their  agency  for  good.  Chastel- 
lux,  in  one  of  his  quaint  moods,  even  goes  so  far 
as  to  credit  the  college  of  William  and  Mary  with 
a  "miracle,  that  is  to  say,  it  made  me  a  Doctor 
of  Law!" — an  agreeably  modest  way  of  saying 
that  on  May  1,  1782,  they  presented  him  with  an 
honorary  degree. 

Before  further  consideration  of  colleges  and  col 
lege  life,  there  is  a  serious  admission  to  make,  which 
to  some  readers  will  prove  a  disheartening  one, 
viz.:  that,  except  for  Brissot's  comment  that  Har 
vard's  "surroundings  are  charming,  open,  and  ex 
tensive,  with  space  for  the  young  men's  exercise," 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  in  all  these  memoirs  to 
indicate  that  athletic  sports  even  existed  in  Ameri 
can  colleges.  What  a  dreadful  exposition  of  the 
inadequacy  of  early  college  life !  How  much  times 
have  changed  can  be  seen  by  reflecting  that  in 
order  to  fill  the  sixty-seven  thousand  seats  of  the 

[240] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

new  stadium  at  Yale  University  (locally  styled 
"the  Bowl")  it  would,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
have  required  more  than  the  combined  population 
of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia.  All  that 
the  French  had  to  say  of  college  life  in  those  early 
days  may  not  meet  with  the  unqualified  approval 
of  the  modern  undergraduate.  For  instance,  such 
ideas  as  Dupont's,  that  studies  should  begin  at  5 
A.  M.  during  the  summer  and  at  6  A.  M.  in  winter. 

To  the  patriotic  stand  taken  by  all  our  coUeges 
many  glowing  tributes  are  paid,  and  in  these 
encomiums  the  students  share  equally  with  their 
instructors.  No  finer  type  of  college-bred  pa 
triot  can  be  cited  than  Captain  Nathan  Hale, 
Yale,  1773,  who  died  with  the  glorious  regret  on 
his  lips  that  he  had  but  one  life  to  give  for  his 
country.  The  colleges  strove  for  the  cause  with 
brain  as  well  as  brawn,  as  appears  from  more  than 
a  few  appreciations  of  the  excellent  political  pam 
phlets  of  President  Stiles  of  Yale,  and  other  col 
legians  like  him.  They  taught  with  their  lives  as 
well  as  their  voices,  did  these  early  instructors — 
"living  books,"  Chastellux  calls  them,  of  a  "coun 
try  already  so  distinguished  for  academies  and 
universities  equal  to  those  of  the  old  world." 

Warm  approval  of  the  system  of  removing 
colleges  from  the  influence  of  large  cities  is  ac 
corded  by  Abbe  Robin,  a  chaplain  in  Rocham- 
beau's  army,  whose  memoirs  are  of  more  than 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

usual  interest,  so  mellow  are  his  appreciations  of 
men  and  things:  "There  has  been  shown  us  in 
Europe  the  physical  and  moral  danger  of  educa 
tion  in  large  cities.  The  Bostonians  have  done 
more,  they  have  prevented  it.  Their  university 
is  at  Cambridge,  four  miles  from  Boston  on  the 
banks  of  the  River  Charles,  in  a  delightful  and 
healthy  situation."  Its  site  is  also  approved  by 
Brissot  for  the  same  reason:  "This  university  is 
far  enough  from  Boston  so  that  the  tumult  of 
business  does  not  at  all  interrupt  study.  There 
one  can  give  oneself  over  to  that  meditation  which 
solitude  alone  permits.  It  is  also  sufficiently  re 
moved  so  that  the  arrival  of  strangers  and  that 
sort  of  license  which  is  carried  on  in  a  commercial 
city  (even  in  a  free  State)  shall  have  no  influence 
upon  the  habits  of  the  students."  Of  another  in 
stitution,  which  had  been  located  in  a  city,  we 
read:  "One  regrets  only  that  this  new  academy 
had  not  been  erected  far  from  the  city,  in  some 
rural  retreat,  where  the  scholars  would  have  been 
further  removed  from  the  tumults  of  business, 
and  the  dissipations  and  pleasures  so  numerous 
in  large  cities."  Thus  wrote  J.  Hector  Saint- John 
de  Crevecceur,  the  most  widely  read  of  all  these 
French  writers,  member  of  learned  societies  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  friend  of  Washington 
and  Franklin,  and  for  some  time  French  Consul 
at  New  York.  He  sold  for  thirty  guineas  his 
[242] 


Ezra  Stiles,  president  of  Yale. 

From  the  portrait  by  Reuben  Moulthrop,  1794 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

famous  "Letters  from  an  American  Farmer,"  a 
book  that  Washington  declared  would  "afford  a 
great  deal  of  profitable  and  amusive  information"; 
neither  of  them  foresaw  the  great  vogue  it  was 
destined  to  enjoy,  both  in  its  English  and  French 
forms. 

The  individual  universities  and  colleges  of  our 
country  elicited  frequent  comments  and  general 
praise  from  the  French.  Of  Harvard  we  learn 
from  Brissot  that  "Boston  has  had  the  glory  of 
giving  the  first  university  to  America.  The 
building  in  which  the  students  and  professors  as 
semble  is  situated  in  a  superb  plain  four  miles 
from  Boston  in  a  place  called  Cambridge.  The 
building  is  divided  into  different  parts  very  well 
distributed.  As  the  students,  who  arrive  from 
all  over  the  United  States,  are  numerous,  and  the 
number  is  constantly  increasing,  additions  will 
have  to  be  built.  The  course  of  study  is  almost 
the  same  as  at  the  University  of  Oxford."  He 
gives  an  account  of  Mr.  "Beaudouin"  the  presi 
dent,  and  of  the  distinguished  professors  who  as 
sist  him,  and  then  goes  on  to  describe  how  patri 
otic  is  the  solemn  festival  celebrated  the  third 
Wednesday  of  July,  in  honor  of  learning:  "This 
festival  which  takes  place  in  all  the  American  col 
leges,  but  on  different  days,  is  called  the  *  Com 
mencement.'  It  is  similar  to  the  exercises  and 
distribution  of  prizes  in  our  colleges.  It  is  a 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

day  of  joy  for  Boston;  almost  all  the  inhabitants, 
with  all  the  government  officers,  set  out  for  the 
beautiful  plain  of  Cambridge.  The  most  success 
ful  students  there  display  their  talent  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  public,  and  receive  prizes,  and  these 
academic  exercises,  of  which  patriotic  subjects 
form  the  principal  part,  end  with  an  entertain 
ment  out  of  doors  at  which  frankness,  gaiety,  and 
the  most  touching  fraternity  reign."  In  these 
days  of  constant  increase  in  the  cost  of  living,  it 
is  disheartening,  not  to  say  exasperating,  to  read  in 
La  Rochefoucauld  that  the  Harvard  undergradu 
ates  "are  subject  to  the  modest  tax  of  sixteen  dol 
lars  for  each  one  of  the  four  years  that  they  stay 
there,  and  six  dollars  per  month  pays  for  their 
food.  If  after  their  four  years  of  residence,  they 
desire  to  prolong  their  study  to  take  degrees, 
they  no  longer  pay  the  sixteen  dollars,  but  only 
the  rent  of  their  rooms." 

Of  Yale  there  are  numerous  and  favorable  ac 
counts.  It  is  comforting  to  learn  that  "the  young 
students,  who  are  there  in  great  numbers,  are  sub 
jected  to  very  wise  regulations."  La  Roche 
foucauld  reports  that  "there  is  in  New  Haven  a 
college  of  an  already  ancient  foundation,  where 
they  assure  you  that  the  instruction  is  as  good  as 
in  any  other  of  the  United  States,"  and  Man- 
drillon  agrees  that  in  New  Haven  "the  instruc 
tion  of  youth  is  very  carefully  conducted,  and  to 

[244] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

that  end  they  have  founded  a  college  which  is 
largely  attended."  That  same  city  so  highly  ap 
preciated  the  value  of  the  services  the  French 
were  rendering  our  country,  not  only  by  their 
swords,  but  also  their  pens,  that  they  voted  the 
freedom  of  the  city  to  sundry  soldiers  and  littera 
teurs  of  that  friendly  nation.  This  act  enabled 
the  Marquis  de  Condorcet,  when  adding  four 
letters  to  Mazzei's  book,  to  use  the  nom  de  plume 
of  "A  Burgess  of  New-Heaven."  Candor  compels 
the  admission  that  the  spelling  used  by  him  for 
the  last  word  was  only  an  unintentional  compli 
ment  to  life  in  the  City  of  Elms. 

Because  of  the  long  sojourn  of  the  French  army 
in  Rhode  Island,  there  are  frequent,  complimen 
tary  references  to  Brown  University,  although  La 
Rochefoucauld  ranks  it  after  Yale  and  Harvard: 
"The  college  is  maintained  at  Providence  by 
legacies,  gifts,  and  private  subscriptions,  but  as 
it  is  incompletely  kept  up,  families  who  wish  to 
give  their  children  a  more  careful  education  send 
them  to  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut.  The 
principal  gifts  to  the  college  have  been  made  by 
a  Baptist.  He  has  imposed  the  condition  that 
the  chief  posts  and  most  of  the  others  also  must 
be  filled  by  men  of  that  persuasion,  and  that 
fact  has  drawn  to  this  State  a  greater  number  of 
that  sect  than  of  any  other." 

Because  of  the  sedate  reputation  which  Prince- 
[245] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ton  has  earned  and  long  enjoyed,  the  author  does 
not  hesitate  to  discharge  his  duty  as  historian  by 
quoting  in  full  St.  Mery's  remarks  concerning 
that  distinguished  institution:  "Princeton  has 
one  college,  with  a  brick  wall  around  a  dirty 
courtyard,  which  is  a  bad  example  to  set  the 
students.  There  is  also  an  old  cannon  which  is 
in  bad  condition.  In  Nassau  Hall  are  forty-two 
bedrooms,  each  for  three  students.  Although 
there  is  room  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  stu 
dents,  there  are  generally  only  about  eighty  in 
residence,  mostly  from  Virginia  and  the  two 
Carolinas.  The  life  there  is  too  easy-going. 
Gaming  and  loose  living  occupy  the  students 
more  than  study."  Chastellux  was  a  most  dis 
criminating  observer,  so  that  over  against  those 
just  quoted  shall  be  set  his  remarks  upon  what 
he  calls  "Prince-Town":  "This  town  is  situated 
on  a  sort  of  slightly  elevated  plateau  sloping  off 
on  every  side.  It  has  but  one  street,  which  is 
formed  by  the  highway.  The  houses  are  to  the 
number  of  sixty  or  eighty,  all  pretty  well  built, 
but  they  are  hardly  noticed  because  one's  atten 
tion  is  at  once  called  to  an  immense  building 
easily  seen  from  a  distance.  It  is  a  college  that 
the  State  of  New  Jersey  built  several  years  before 
the  War.  As  this  building  is  remarkable  for  its 
size  alone,  it  is  useless  to  describe  it.  I  dis 
mounted  for  a  moment  to  go  through  the  vast 
[246] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

edifice.  I  was  joined  almost  immediately  by  Mr. 
Withersporn  [sic],  President  of  the  University.  He 
is  a  man  of  at  least  sixty  years  of  age,  a  Mem 
ber  of  Congress,  and  very  highly  esteemed  in  his 
country.  In  meeting  me  he  spoke  French,  but 
I  easily  perceived  that  he  had  acquired  the  use 
of  this  language  rather  by  reading  than  by  con 
versation,  which  did  not  prevent  me  from  reply 
ing  to  him  in  French,  for  I  saw  that  he  was  very 
pleased  to  show  that  he  knew  it.  With  an  annual 
expenditure  of  forty  guineas,  parents  can  keep 
their  children  in  this  college.  Lodging  and  the 
teachers  take  up  half  of  this  sum,  and  the  rest  is 
for  food,  either  at  the  college  itself  or  in  board 
ing-houses  in  the  town.  Since  the  War  this  use 
ful  institution  has  fallen  into  decay.  They  had 
gotten  together  a  great  number  of  books,  most  of 
which  had  been  dispersed.  The  English  had 
even  taken  from  the  chapel  the  portrait  of  the 
King  of  England,  but  the  Americans  were  easily 
consoled  for  this  loss,  saying  that  they  did  not 
want  a  King, — not  even  a  painted  one." 

Of  far  wider  scope  than  the  educational  influ 
ences  exercised  by  our  universities  and  colleges  is, 
and  always  has  been,  that  wielded  by  our  news 
papers,  and  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  re 
public  the  character  of  those  educating  and  en 
lightening  publications  has  been  of  an  excellence 
unsurpassed  in  foreign  lands.  One  has  only  to 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

recall  that  Benjamin  Franklin,  our  first  and  great 
est  diplomat,  was  a  member  of  that  worthy  guild 
to  realize  the  high  type  of  many  of  the  men  con 
cerned  in  the  presentation  of  current  events  to 
our  public  thirsty  for  information.  No  wonder 
Robin  remarks  that  "almost  all  take  the  news 
paper  which  is  printed  in  their  neighborhood," 
or  that  "all,  from  the  Congressman  to  the  work 
man,  read  one  or  other  of  the  thousands  of  news 
papers  which  appear."  Dupont  observed  that 
while  "a  large  part  of  the  nation  reads  the  Bible, 
all  of  it  assiduously  peruse  the  newspapers.  The 
fathers  read  them  aloud  to  their  children  while 
the  mothers  are  preparing  breakfast,  something 
which  takes  at  least  three  quarters  of  an  hour 
every  morning."  "Very  numerous,"  says  Deux- 
Ponts,  "are  their  newspapers  or  gazettes,  in 
fallible  barometers  of  public  opinion,  for  their 
editors  would  have  no  sale  if  they  did  not  print 
what  the  majority  liked.  Back  in  the  country 
they  only  appear  weekly,  but  in  towns  of  the 
second  class  twice  a  week,  while  in  the  large  cities 
they  come  out  morning,  noon,  and  night.  This 
multiplicity  of  papers,  dangerous  where  unneces 
sary,  is  advantageous  in  the  United  States.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  invent  a  better  guide  for 
public  opinion."  Brissot  realizes  that  "those 
newspapers  are  the  channel  of  information  in 
America,  and  that  is  why  they  are  kept  so  gener- 
[248] 


-     -3 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ally  informed."  Says  Bonnet:  "They  take  an 
interest  in  politics  because  they  read  the  news 
papers,  of  which  more  than  30,000  sheets  are 
published  each  week  in  the  five  New  England 
states  alone." 

Minister  Ternant  wrote  home,  August  19,  1792: 
"The  newspapers  are  filled  daily  with  articles  either 
defending  or  bitterly  attacking  the  new  federal 
government,  as  well  as  the  actions  of  its  principal 
agents,  and  each  party  seeks  thus  to  win  the  ap 
proaching  elections."  So  important  did  he  con 
sider  it  that  his  government  be  kept  constantly 
advised  of  the  opinions  expressed  in  the  American 
newspapers  that  he  regularly  forwarded  it  two  of 
them  published  in  Philadelphia,  "one  (the  General 
Advertiser)  is  the  property  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Franklin's  grandson  and  successor  as  printer,  and 
the  other  (the  National  Gazette)  is  edited  by  a  Mr. 
Fresneau,  an  employee  of  the  State  Department." 
The  great  political  usefulness  of  these  numerous 
public  prints  especially  appealed  to  Lafayette: 
"In  this  happy  country,  where  everyone  hears  of 
and  follows  the  course  of  public  events,  news 
papers  prove  of  great  assistance  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  cause."  In  Boston,  says  Bourgeois,  "there 
are  printed,  just  as  in  London,  not  only  books 
but  also  daily  sheets  called  *  papers,'  which  have 
encouraged  both  credulity  and  fanaticism  among 
them — what  a  curious  collection  it  would  be  if 

[249] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

there  were  gotten  together  all  the  different 
gazettes  published  in  Boston,  and  circulated 
thence  throughout  the  United  States!"  He 
seemed  to  think  the  editors  capable  of  sometimes 
coloring  the  news  to  suit  their  own  wishes,  and 
General  Moreau  also  thought  "the  newspapers  of 
this  land  do  not  always  tell  the  truth,  when  it  is 
a  question  of  their  own  interests." 

Savarin  gives  amusing  testimony  to  the  prompt 
enterprise  displayed  by  the  New  York  newspapers, 
which  "reported  fairly  accurately  "  a  drinking  bout 
in  which  he  and  two  French  friends  were  pitted 
against  two  Englishmen  from  Jamaica.  This  was 
in  1794,  and  he  tells  us  that  what  the  New  York 
reporters  printed  of  this  bacchic  struggle  was 
copied  by  other  papers  all  over  the  country. 
There  is  something  quite  modern  in  the  story  of 
how  Perrin  du  Lac  learned  of  the  enterprise  of 
our  reporters  before  he  had  time  to  notice  any 
thing  else  American.  The  boat  on  which  he  ar 
rived  was  inspected  by  the  medical  officer  from 
the  quarantine  station  just  off  Staten  Island. 
"Hardly  had  we  again  hoisted  sail  than  we  saw 
approaching  several  newspaper  men  anxious  to 
get  the  latest  news  from  Europe.  We  gave  them 
such  newspapers  as  we  had,  and  in  return  therefor 
they  took  ashore  with  them  such  passengers  as 
wished  to  land." 

Even  in  the  then  most  sparsely  settled  regions, 
[25o] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

the  newspapers'  educating  influence  was  con 
stantly  exerted.  "In  the  province  of  Main  [sic] 
they  only  print  one  newspaper  twice  a  week," 
says  La  Rochefoucauld,  "but  that  is  an  important 
one.  It  is  widely  circulated  in  the  country  dis 
tricts,  and  read  with  interest.  Newspapers  are 
more  numerous  in  New  Hampshire,  three  of  them 
are  printed  at  Portsmouth,  two  at  Dover,  and  one 
at  Darmouth  [sic]  on  the  Connecticut  River, 
where  the  state  college  is  located."  St.  Mery  tells 
us  that  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  there  were  two 
printing  offices,  two  newspapers,  and  a  loan  library, 
but  he  gives  the  palm  to  Philadelphia,  with  its 
thirty-one  printing  offices,  and  thirteen  news 
papers.  In  this  conclusion  several  other  writers 
agree,  among  them  Brissot:  "There  is  no  city  on 
this  continent  where  they  print  so  much  as  in 
Philadelphia.  The  printing  offices,  the  news 
papers,  and  the  booksellers  are  as  numerous  there 
as  the  booksellers  are  throughout  the  State." 
While  speaking  of  Lexington's  two  presses,  each 
printing  a  biweekly  gazette,  Michaux  (junior) 
comments  that  "some  of  the  paper  is  made  in 
this  country  and  costs  a  third  more  than  in 
France;  writing-paper  is  imported  from  England." 
It  is  perhaps  surprising  to  learn  that  the  early 
American  gazettes  did  not  confine  themselves  to 
neighborhood,  or  even  to  American  news.  It  was 
from  a  Boston  newspaper  that  the  Marquise  de 
[25i] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

la  Tour  du  Pin  learned  that  her  father,  Colonel 
Arthur  Dillon,  had  been  guillotined  in  Paris, 
April  13,  1794,  and  she  adds:  "Indeed  all  the 
news  from  France  was  printed  in  the  American 
papers  as  soon  as  received."  While  dining  at 
General  Schuyler's  in  Albany,  she  learned  from 
a  local  newspaper  of  the  overthrow  of  Robes 
pierre,  and  she  comments  on  the  personal  satis 
faction  this  news  gave  to  Talleyrand  and  Beau- 
metz,  who  were  also  present  on  that  occasion. 
It  was  from  an  American  newspaper  that  Chateau 
briand  learned  the  exciting  news  of  the  flight 
from  Paris  of  Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette, 
and  their  arrest  at  Varennes,  which  decided  him 
to  return  to  France  and  aid  their  cause  by  join 
ing  the  army  of  the  French  princes.  Brissot  re 
cords  that  "Salem,  like  all  American  cities,  has 
a  printing  press  and  a  newspaper  which  copies 
from  the  newspapers  of  other  States.  While 
waiting  for  supper  there  I  read  a  newspaper  in 
which  was  the  speech  delivered  by  Monsieur  de 
1'Epremesnil  when  he  was  arrested  in  open  parlia 
ment  (in  Paris).  What  an  admirable  invention  is 
the  printing  press ! — it  puts  all  nations  into  touch. 
It  electrifies  one  by  the  recital  of  fine  actions  in 
one  country  that  will  soon  become  common  to 
all."  Minister  Fauchet  criticised  French  news 
papers  for  not  reaching  our  standard  in  printing 
foreign  news,  and  complained,  May  17,  1795,  to 
[262! 


— 


0)      U 

11 

a    -2 

!! 

O     -a 


V     r 

IS 

u  -^ 

M 


—         S3 

c     » 


C\3 

Q    s 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

the  Committee  of  Public  Safety:  "I  cannot 
avoid  expressing  to  you  my  astonishment  at  see 
ing  the  French  papers  full  of  absurd  stories  about 
America,  despite  my  continually  sending  you  an 
account  of  the  noteworthy  events  here." 

In  view  of  what  we  have  just  learned  of  how 
large  was  the  reading  public  enjoyed  by  the 
numerous  American  newspapers,  we  are  quite 
prepared  to  find  the  Frenchmen  encountering  a 
wide-spread  interest  in  political  questions.  Segur 
had  hardly  landed  and  started  for  Philadelphia 
when  he  mentions  that  "as  all  took  a  great  in 
terest  in  public  affairs,  before  allowing  me  to  go, 
I  had  to  reply  as  best  I  might  to  countless  ques 
tions  which  they  asked."  Even  more  forcibly  is 
this  evidenced  in  the  episode  of  Rochambeau's 
vehicle  breaking ,  down  on  the  road  near  Wind- 
ham,  Connecticut,  necessitating  the  services  at 
night  of  a  carter  whom  they  found  already  in 
bed:  "The  man  was  sick,  and  though  they  of 
fered  to  fill  his  hat  with  guineas  he  would  not 
work  at  night,  but  when  he  heard  who  it  was, 
he  did  so.  Called  out  a  second  time,  he  still 
asked  further  political  questions,  and  ended  by 
saying:  'Well!  you  are  worthy  men,  you  shall 
have  your  wagon  by  five  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
but  before  setting  to  work  and  without  wishing 
to  pry  into  your  secrets, — are  you  pleased  with 
Washington,  and  was  he  with  you  ? '  We  assured 
[2531 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

him  that  we  were.  His  patriotism  was  satisfied, 
and  he  kept  his  word."  "All  the  agricultural 
people  in  the  interior,"  said  Rochambeau,  who  re 
counts  the  foregoing  anecdote  in  his  memoirs,  "and 
almost  all  the  landholders  of  Connecticut  are  ani 
mated  by  this  public  spirit,  which  should  serve 
as  a  model  for  many  others."  Beaujour  remarks, 
"The  conversation  of  the  men  x generally  turns 
upon  politics,"  and  Chastellux  adds:  "Every 
American  conversation  has  to  wind  up  with  poli 
tics."  Bayard  evidently  agrees  with  the  two 
foregoing:  "After  the  ladies  withdrew,  we  talked 
politics.  The  liberality  of  the  sentiments  of  these 
two  Americans  as  well  as  their  education  encour 
aged  me  to  hazard  some  reflections  on  the  mode 
of  elections  adopted  in  the  United  States."  Bay 
ard  was  not  the  only  Frenchman  to  notice  that 
Americans  loved  to  talk  politics  at  table,  for 
Minister  Adet  reported  home  in  1795  that  "it  is 
after  dinner  that  one  relaxes,  discusses  matters, 
and  it  is  during  the  toasts  that  confidence  and 
persuasion  can  slip  in.  Your  Minister  could  do 
nothing  here  did  he  not  often  have  Congressmen 
at  his  table."  Mazzei  concludes  that  "they  seek 
to  inform  themselves  upon  public  affairs  because 
they  find  it  to  their  interest.  The  progress  made 
by  the  American  people,  since  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution  till  now,  in  the  matter  of  reason 
ing  upon  this  sort  of  affairs,  is  really  astonishing." 
[254] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

This  same  Mazzei  was  the  indiscreet  person  who, 
by  quoting  Jefferson  in  his  letter  of  April  24, 1796, 
to  the  Directory,  which  it  hastened  to  publish 
in  the  Moniteur  of  January  25,  1797,  was  (accord 
ing  to  Robert  de  Crevecceur,  biographer  of  his 
distinguished  progenitor)  the  means  of  causing 
the  estrangement  between  Jefferson  and  Wash 
ington  which  persisted  so  long.  That  Jefferson 
cherished  no  ill-feeling  against  Mazzei  for  this  in 
discretion  is  clear  from  the  friendly  tone  of  a  sub 
sequent  letter  from  the  former  to  the  latter. 

Nor  did  the  interest  in  public  affairs,  everywhere 
noticeable  in  the  United  States,  evidence  itself  in 
speech  alone.  Baron  de  Kalb,  that  intelligent  in 
vestigator  of  the  French  Government,  who  ended 
his  career  so  gloriously  at  the  battle  of  Camden, 
reported  to  his  Foreign  Office  that,  even  while 
there  was  still  peace,  "Boston  has  suspended  all 
commerce  with  the  port  of  London.  The  people 
are  no  longer  willing  to  use  anything  brought  from 
or  made  there."  The  women  even  denied  them 
selves  their  cherished  solace  of  tea  in  order  to  in 
jure  the  English  tea  trade,  and  the  men,  on  the  oc 
casion  of  the  "Boston  Tea  Party,"  changed  this 
passive  resistance  into  an  active  one  by  turning 
Boston  Harbor  into  a  stronger  infusion  of  the  costly 
herb  than  the  English  authorities  could  stomach. 
Our  early  women-folk  were  as  sturdy  as  their 
consorts  in  practical  demonstrations  of  their  keen 
[266] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

interest  in  public  affairs,  as  appears  from  La 
fayette's  letter  of  October  7,  1780,  to  his  wife: 
"The  women  have  made  and  are  still  making 
subscriptions  to  aid  the  soldiers.  When  this  idea 
was  broached  I  made  myself  your  ambassador 
to  the  ladies  of  Philadelphia,  and  you  are  down 
for  one  hundred  guineas  on  their  list."  Chastel- 
lux's  account  of  a  call  upon  Mrs.  "Beach" 
(Franklin's  daughter),  gives  a  pleasant  picture 
of  how  practical  was  the  women's  patriotism: 
"Simple  in  her  manners  as  her  respected  father, 
she  has  also  his  benevolence.  She  led  us  into  a 
room  filled  with  recent  handiwork  of  Philadelphia 
ladies.  This  work  was  neither  embroidered  waist 
coats,  nor  sets  of  lace,  nor  even  gold  embroidery, 
— it  was  shirts  for  the  Pennsylvania  soldiers. 
These  ladies  had  provided  the  cloth  at  their  own 
expense,  and  had  taken  real  pleasure  in  cutting 
and  sewing  them  themselves.  On  each  shirt  was 
marked  the  name  of  the  lady  or  girl  who  had 
made  it,  and  there  were  2,200  of  them !" 

Connecticut  was  not  behind  Maryland  in  set 
ting  patriotism  before  thrift  when  her  interest  in 
public  affairs  was  appealed  to,  for  after  the  vic 
tory  at  Yorktown,  Rochambeau  says  that  on 
his  way  to  his  transports  at  Boston  "the  French 
Army,  in  its  march,  crossed  Connecticut,  and 
Governor  'Trumbold'  and  his  Council  issued  a 
proclamation  requesting  all  their  fellow-citizens 
[256] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

not  to  increase  prices  during  the  march  of  the 
French  Army.  Everybody  conformed  thereto  so 
generously  that  each  soldier's  mess  obtained  daily 
at  a  very  low  price  all  sorts  of  food  to  add  to  their 
ordinary  rations."  Beaujour  believes  our  zest 
for  politics  was  due  to  our  English  origin:  "They 
get  their  political  opinions  from  those  nations 
from  which  they  spring,  and  as  most  of  them  are 
of  English  origin,  they  have  carried  to  America 
all  those  elements  of  discord  which  agitate  Eng 
land.  In  every  State  they  are  divided  into  two 
great  parties,  like  those  of  the  Whigs  and  Tories, 
and  what  is  most  tiresome  is  that  neither  of  those 
parties  knows  exactly  what  it  wants,  or  at  least 
takes  no  steps  to  obtain  it."  Then  follow  four 
pages  of  what  he  understands  to  be  American 
politics,  but  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  unravel  the 
mysteries  thereof.  Comte  de  Fersen  showed  a 
much  keener  insight  than  he  when  he  remarked: 
"It  is  a  country  which  will  surely  be  very  happy 
...  if  the  two  political  parties  which  now  divide 
it  do  not  make  it  suffer  the  fate  of  Poland  and 
of  so  many  other  republics."  Milfort  found  the 
political  strife  between  our  "Wigth  and  Toris" 
so  violent  and  objectionable  that  he  took  refuge 
among  the  Indians  of  the  backwoods,  where  he 
lived  for  twenty  years!  It  is  pleasant  to  see 
that  Perrin  du  Lac  was  impressed  by  the  fact 
that,  "although  a  strong  party  spirit  animates 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

almost  all  the  members  of  Congress,  and  although 
the  Senate  and  the  Executive  show  it  in  all  their 
deliberations,  it  never  fails  to  yield  to  a  regard 
for  the  common  weal,  which  reunites  all  those 
patriotic  individuals  when  anything  touches  pub 
lic  prosperity."  As  Perrin  du  Lac  refers  to 
Congress  let  us  read  the  Due  de  Broglie's  account 
of  its  meeting-place:  "The  Hall  of  Congress  is 
on  the  ground  floor,  very  large,  and  with  no 
other  adornments  than  a  poor  engraving  of  Mont 
gomery,  another  of  Washington,  and  the  Decla 
ration  of  Independence.  There  are  thirteen  tables 
covered  with  green  cloth,  and  at  each  of  these, 
during  the  sessions,  sits  one  of  the  principal  rep 
resentatives  of  each  of  the  thirteen  States.  The 
President  of  the  Congress  is  placed  in  the  centre 
of  the  room  on  a  sort  of  throne,  the  clerk  below 
him."  He  also  remarks  that  in  a  wing  of  the 
building  next  this  hall,  rooms  are  provided  for 
ambassadors  from  the  savage  tribes. 

A  little  time  ago,  a  friend  of  the  author  re 
marked  to  him  that  the  worthies  of  the  Revolu 
tion  and  the  times  in  which  they  lived  had  be 
come  so  idealized  as  to  seem  to  him  no  more 
human  than  a  steel  engraving.  As  a  protest 
against  this  use  of  denatured  alcohol  for  preserv 
ing  the  memories  of  our  glorious  past,  and  by 
way  of  proving  that  our  worthy  sires  were  quite 
as  human  as  their  descendants,  it  seems  well  to 
[a581 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

conclude  this  chapter  with  Bayard's  description 
of  scenes  on  election  day,  which  for  real  human 
nature  rival  those  which  Mr.  Pickwick  and  Samuel 
Weller  witnessed:  "Your  election  days  are  days 
of  debauch  and  quarrels.  Candidates  publicly 
offer  drinks  to  whosoever  will  give  them  votes. 
Those  who  would  excuse  everything  reply  that 
the  intention  of  the  candidates  is  only  to  offer 
refreshments  to  those  abandoning  their  work  and 
coming  from  a  distance.  It  is  a  great  scandal 
that  these  candidates  are  charged  with  this  en 
tertainment,  and  another  that  the  voters  should 
live  so  far  away  from  the  place  of  election.  The 
taverns  are  occupied  by  party  adherents.  The 
citizens  take  their  stand  under  the  banners  of  the 
candidates,  and  the  voting-place  is  often  sur 
rounded  by  men  armed  with  sticks,  who  push 
back  and  intimidate  the  voters  of  the  opposing 
party.  Therefore,  it  is  not  the  people  who  regis 
ter  their  decision  but  the  factions  which  fight 
about  it.  After  the  candidates  have  published 
their  platforms  in  the  public  prints,  their  adher 
ents  start  the  campaign,  and  give  drinks  to  those 
they  wish  to  win  over.  To  get  the  recruits  all 
together,  the  public  is  often  notified  to  assemble 
on  such  a  day  at  such  a  tavern  in  order  to  clarify 
the  opinion  of  the  voters.  If  the  candidate  has 
oratorical  talent,  he  is  to  be  found  there  harangu 
ing  his  friends  and  awaiting  with  security  the  day 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

of  election.  The  country-people  come  on  horse 
back,  and  in  troops  of  two  by  two.  Drums  beaten 
by  hirelings  who  cry  out  '  Huzza ! '  at  the  top  of 
their  lungs,  complete  the  martial  confusion  on 
election  day.  Women  solicit  votes,  running  from 
shop  to  shop  to  get  them."  "This  is  a  true  pic 
ture  of  what  happens  in  the  maritime  cities," 
replied  Mr.  Smith,  "but  it  is  overdrawn  if  you 
are  trying  to  depict  election-days  in  the  interior 
cities."  And  General  Dumas  makes  a  similar 
geographical  distinction:  "The  elections  of  coun 
try  members  are  free  from  bribery.  A  man  may 
seduce  some  of  his  fellow-citizens  by  his  eloquence, 
but  he  cannot  win  their  votes  by  his  money." 


260] 


CHAPTER  XI 
RELIGIOUS  OBSERVANCES 

So  strictly  was  the  Sabbath  observed  in  Revo 
lutionary  days  that  "some  pleasant  dames,  rather 
jolly  souls,  whom  I  went  to  see  in  Providence, 
would  not  even  sing  on  Saturday  evening.  Last 
September  on  my  way  from  Philadelphia  to  the 
Hudson,  something  happened  which  shows  how 
general  is  this  observance.  One  Sunday  some 
officers  came  to  call,  and  proposed  we  play  a 
game  of  reversi,  but  the  landlady  indignantly 
burst  in  and  tried  to  snatch  away  the  cards.  I 
had  difficulty  in  quieting  her,  and  had  to  have 
an  Irish  priest  who  spoke  English  explain  that  our 
religious  principles  did  not  forbid  playing  cards 
on  Sunday."  And  the  foregoing  was  written, 
not  by  some  wild  young  blade  of  the  French 
army,  but  by  the  conscientious,  hard-working 
commissary,  Blanchard !  "From  Saturday  eve 
ning  on,"  says  Bourgeois,  "all  doors  are  shut, 
nor  do  they  open  until  Monday  morning,  and 
during  the  hours  of  divine  service  no  one  is  allowed 
to  walk  about  the  streets  on  pain  of  imprisonment. 
Strangers  alone  are  exempt  from  this  regulation, 
but  even  they  must  take  care  not  to  make  the 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

slightest  noise."  And  if  perchance  they  did  in 
dulge  in  untimely  noises — what  happened?  The 
answer  shall  come  from  Chaplain  Robin,  who  will 
a  tale  of  woe  unfold  fully  as  diverting  as  B Ian- 
chard's, — also  about  an  unwary  stranger  who 
nearly  got  into  trouble  by  choosing  the  wrong  day 
on  which  to  be  noisy:  "One  Sunday,  a  Frenchman 
who  lived  with  me  took  it  into  his  head  to  play 
the  flute.  The  people  started  to  mob  him,  and 
would  have  carried  matters  to  extremes  if  the 
landlord  had  not  stopped  him ! "  This  unfortu 
nate  man  had  evidently  not  been  warned  that 
"Sunday  is  observed  with  the  greatest  respect. 
All  business,  no  matter  how  important,  stops. 
Even  the  most  innocent  pleasures  are  not  per 
mitted.  Boston,  a  city  of  large  population,  where 
there  is  always  a  great  deal  going  on,  seems  a 
desert  on  these  days.  One  meets  nobody  on  the 
streets,  and  if  you  happen  upon  someone,  you  do 
not  dare  stop  and  talk  with  him!"  These  two 
serio-comic  episodes  (both,  by  the  way,  chaperoned 
by  priests)  demonstrate  that  neither  the  flute- 
player  nor  the  card-players  were  merely  victims 
of  local  "blue-laws,"  but  that  the  will  of  the 
American  people  themselves  was  reflected  in 
those  regulations.  It  took  a  little  time  for  this 
un-European  fact  to  dawn  upon  these  friendly 
strangers.  Nor  was  this  phenomenon  true  of 
municipal  statutes  alone.  Our  Declaration  of 
[262] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Independence  was  widely  known  in  Europe  and 
greatly  admired,  but  very  few  of  the  contempo 
rary  Frenchmen  had  any  idea,  before  they  landed 
here,  how  completely  that  immortal  document 
voiced  the  deeper  feelings  of  the  people,  and  par 
ticularly  in  those  passages  which  attribute  our 
liberty  to  the  Divine  Author.  They  came  to 
learn,  and  with  sober  astonishment,  that  the  lives 
of  our  ancestors  proved  that  their  Declaration 
was  a  pronouncement  of  facts,  not  phrases. 

In  such  a  book  as  this  there  is  no  place  for 
any  of  the  many  tedious  discussions  as  to  the 
tenets  of  the  various  sects  found  by  the  French 
in  America;  still  less  are  we  interested  in  the  fre 
quent  disputes  among  them  concerning  these  dis 
cussions.  Brissot  criticises  Chastellux,  Bayard 
attacks  Brissot,  etc.,  etc.  But  it  does  interest  us, 
and  greatly,  too,  to  notice  the  deep  impression 
made  upon  the  Europeans  by  our  system  of  abso 
lute  religious  liberty,  the  large  number  of  our 
sects  (none  of  which  predominated),  our  very  un- 
European  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  our  (to 
them)  novel  attitude  toward  churches  and  atten 
dance  upon  them.  Short  as  was  the  time  which 
the  French  spent  among  us,  it  sufficed  to  impress 
them  with  the  deep  sincerity  of  religious  feeling 
which,  then,  as  always,  ran  and  still  runs  through 
every  class  of  our  society.  Mazzei  boldly  main 
tains  that  "among  all  these  States  there  is  none 
[2631 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

where  religious  liberty  is  not  on  a  better  footing 
than  in  any  part  of  Europe."  Even  before  Bris- 
sot  reached  American  shores  he  learned  on  board 
ship  that  "these  sailors  are  very  religious,  as  are 
all  American  sailors  with  whom  I  have  since  trav 
elled  " ;  and  Bayard,  after  his  fine  phrase,  "Ameri 
cans  have  a  robust  confidence  in  the  Lord,"  adds 
that  "during  moments  of  leisure,  religion  is  a 
subject  of  conversation,  but  less  for  the  purpose 
of  criticising  other  sects  than  for  confirming  the 
belief  of  each  speaker  in  his  own.  Sometimes, 
however,  they  treat  members  of  sects  other  than 
their  own  rather  stiffly."  Says  Beaujour:  "Re 
ligion  is  not  only  necessary  to  a  man  in  American 
social  life,  but  even  more  so  in  private  life.  The 
Americans  have  acted  wisely  in  admitting  all  re 
ligions  alike  and  in  excluding  atheism  alone." 
Mazzei  notices  that  "the  citizens  who  are  not  of 
some  Christian  religion  are  few  in  number." 
While  travelling  through  Connecticut,  Robin  ob 
serves:  "I  never  entered  a  house  without  finding 
a  Bible  there,  which  they  read  evenings  and 
Sundays  in  the  family." 

"Throughout  all  of  America,"  says  La  Roche 
foucauld,  "the  great  ambition  of  every  new  town 
is  to  build  a  church,"  and  he  shows  how,  even  be 
fore  they  could  afford  a  church,  the  people  were 
ministered  to  by  itinerant  preachers:  "There  is 
not  a  religious  edifice  in  this  province  [Maine] 
[264] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

elsewhere  than  in  Belfast  and  Penobscot.  Sundry 
famished  ministers  travel  through  the  townships 
preaching  a  sermon  or  two,  for  which  they  are  paid 
four  dollars,  and  go  on  to  preach  elsewhere  the 
following  Sunday."  Blanchard  noted  down  that 
in  and  about  Boston  everybody  drove  to  church, 
but  that  out  in  the  country  both  young  and  old 
generally  arrived  on  horseback;  outside  of  one 
country  church  he  counted  over  a  hundred  horses. 
The  scrupulous  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  so 
different  from  the  custom  in  Europe,  caused  many 
comments,  not  all  of  which  are  complimentary. 
Says  Bayard:  "Coming  back  from  Church,  I 
observed  that  all  the  house  doors  were  closed. 
They  remained  so  all  day  long.  Everyone  seemed 
to  be  in  retirement.  Mrs.  Bush,  as  well  as  her 
daughters,  withdrew  after  dinner  to  read  several 
chapters  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  thus  that  in  all  the  United  States  they  keep 
Sunday."  "You  cannot  go  into  a  house,"  says 
Robin,  "without  finding  everybody  occupied  in 
reading  the  Bible.  It  is  a  touching  spectacle  to 
see  a  father  surrounded  by  his  family  expounding 
to  them  the  sublime  truths  of  the  Sacred  Book. 
No  one  fails  to  attend  the  church  of  his  sect. 
Absolute  silence  is  preserved  there,  as  well  as  an 
order  arid  respect  which  has  not  existed  for  a 
long  time  in  most  of  our  Catholic  churches.  The 
singing  of  the  psalms  is  slow  and  majestic.  The 
[265] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

harmony  of  the  poetry  in  the  national  language 
increases  the  interest,  and  must  contribute  to 
hold  the  attention  of  the  audience."  Blanchard 
also  found  "the  singing  pleasant  and  well  done, 
not  by  priests  and  salaried  chaplains,  but  by 
men  and  women,  young  and  old,  assembled  to 
gether  by  reason  of  a  common  desire  to  praise 
God."  An  equally  pleasant  picture  of  the  in 
terior  of  a  church  during  service  is  painted  by 
Crevecceur:  "Here  on  a  Sunday  one  sees  a  con 
gregation  of  respectable  farmers  and  their  wives, 
all  clad  in  neat  homespun,  well  mounted  or  riding 
in  their  own  humble  wagons.  There  is  not  a 
squire  among  them,  saving  only  the  unlettered 
magistrate.  There  is  a  parson  as  simple  as  his 
flock,  and  farmers  who  do  not  fatten  on  the  labor 
of  others." 

But  worldly  as  well  as  philosophical  Chastellux 
would  have  us  believe  that  we  carried  matters  to 
an  extreme:  "They  also  agree  in  a  practice  which 
does  not  seem  to  me  to  have  any  necessary  con 
nection  with  the  dogmas  of  protestantism, — I 
refer  to  the  extreme  severity  with  which  they 
observe  the  Sabbath.  That  day  is  consecrated 
to  divine  worship,  which  is  an  excellent  idea, 
but  it  is  also  consecrated  to  repose,  and  of  what 
use  is  repose  without  gaiety,  without  diversion! 
I  venture  to  say  that  in  America  you  know  noth 
ing  either  of  the  strain  of  work  or  of  the  plea- 
[266] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

sure  of  repose.  What  a  distressing  silence  reigns 
in  your  cities  on  Sunday !  One  would  think 
that  a  violent  epidemic — a  pest,  had  obliged 
everybody  to  shut  himself  up  at  home."  Then 
after  describing  the  gayety  of  a  European  Sab 
bath,  he  adds:  "In  America  it  is  entirely  differ 
ent.  Nothing  but  laziness,  no  music  or  dancing, 
the  sexes  separated.  As  the  women  know  of 
nothing  else  to  do  than  make  a  toilette  which 
has  not  already  been  shown  at  Meeting,  they 
perforce  drop  into  mere  idleness,  with  no  diver 
sion  but  frivolous  conversation  and  gossip,  while 
the  men,  bored  with  having  read  the  Bible  to 
their  children,  assemble  around  a  joyless  bowl, 
at  the  bottom  of  which  there  is  nothing  but 
drunkenness."  Michaux  (the  elder)  complained 
that  "they  are  so  full  of  scruples  in  America,  that 
on  Sundays  in  the  cities  one  dare  not  go  out  even 
to  take  a  walk."  It  required  so  keen  an  observer 
as  Marnezia  to  notice  that  "although  the  Sundays, 
so  religiously,  even  scrupulously,  observed  in 
America,  are  for  them  holy  days,  they  are  not 
sad  ones." 

As  to  the  interiors  of  our  churches,  it  is  but 
natural  that  the  French  should  find  them  over- 
simple  and  lacking  in  decoration  after  the  splen 
dor  of  their  own  cathedrals.  In  Boston,  Abbe 
Robin  remarks  that  "there  are  nineteen  churches 
of  different  sects,  all  clean  and  some  very  pretty, 

[267] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

especially  those  of  the  Presbyterians  and  the 
Anglicans.  Their  shape  is  a  long  quadrilateral, 
with  a  speaking  desk,  and  furnished  with  uniform 
benches.  All  these  churches  are  bare  of  orna 
ment,  and  nothing  appeals  to  the  imagination  or 
the  heart,  nor  reminds  a  man  of  what  he  has 
come  there  to  do,  what  he  is,  or  what  he  is  going 
to  be.  Neither  painting  nor  sculpture  recall 
those  great  events  which  stimulate  his  sense  of 
duty.  No  pomp  or  ceremonies  paint  for  him  the 
greatness  of  the  Being  whom  he  adores,  no  pro 
cessions  suggest  the  homage  owed  to  Him  by 
whom  nature  is  awakened,  and  by  whom  the 
fields  are  covered  with  harvests  and  the  trees 
with  fruit."  Indeed,  to  such  an  extent  is  this 
simplicity  carried  that  Brissot  queries:  "Can  one 
properly  give  this  name  (church)  to  a  room  where 
there  are  only  benches? — no  ornament,  painting, 
altar,  chairs, — nothing,  in  a  word,  of  all  that  one 
sees  in  the  churches  of  other  religions." 

Notwithstanding  this  simplicity  of  the  churches, 
both  within  and  without,  the  effect  which  they 
produced  upon  our  visitors  was,  says  Brissot,  very 
pleasant:  "Nothing  is  more  charming  than  the 
appearance  of  a  church  or  meeting-house  on  a 
Sunday.  A  good  suit  is  on  the  back  of  every  man, 
cloth  from  India  or  England  attires  the  women 
and  children,  without  their  being  spoiled  by  those 
fallals  or  ornaments  which  ennui,  fancy  and  bad 
[268! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

taste  load  upon  our  women."  He  adds :  "  Church 
service  in  America  is  merely  a  meeting  of  brothers 
who  come  there  to  shake  hands,  think  and  pray 
together."  When  he  reaches  Connecticut  he  be 
comes  even  more  enthusiastic:  "  Weatherfields  [sic] 
is  remarkable  for  its  elegant  meeting-house  or 
church.  It  is  said  to  present  an  enchanting  spec 
tacle  on  Sunday  because  of  the  many  young  and 
pretty  girls  assembled  there  and  for  the  agreeable 
music  with  which  divine  service  is  interspersed." 

The  only  reference  to  a  recognition  of  official 
dom  by  the  church  is  in  St.  Mery's  statement  that 
St.  Paul's  in  New  York  "is  equipped  with  benches, 
one  of  which  is  against  the  wall  for  members  of 
Congress,  and  opposite  to  it  is  another  one  reserved 
for  the  Governor."  The  importance  in  the  com 
munity  of  the  minister  of  the  gospel  was  re 
marked  by  Rochambeau:  "The  highest  seat  in  all 
public  banquets  was  reserved  for  the  clergyman. 
He  blessed  the  repast,  but  these  prerogatives  went 
no  further  than  social  intercourse." 

Because  of  the  stirring  events  then  taking  place, 
it  was  but  natural  that  religious  services  should 
sometimes  take  on  a  political  complexion.  We 
learn  from  Lafayette  that  "the  sermons  also 
speak  out  on  its  [revolutionary  cause's]  behalf, 
for  the  Bible  is  often  republican."  Having  ad 
vised  an  Anglican  clergyman  to  talk  of  nothing 
but  heaven  while  in  the  pulpit,  Lafayette  listened 

[269] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

on  the  following  Sunday  to  "the  disgraceful  House 
of  Hanover,"  which  proved  how  little  the  preach 
er's  patriotism  coincided  with  the  Frenchman's 
view  of  professional  etiquette !  Chastellux  gives 
further  testimony  to  the  same  effect:  "Passing  in 
front  of  the  Meeting-House  just  at  the  hour  of 
service,  I  had  the  curiosity  to  go  in  and  remained  a 
good  half  hour  so  as  not  to  interrupt  the  preacher, 
and  also  to  show  respect  to  those  assembled. 
There  were  not  many  people  on  account  of  the 
excessive  cold  weather,  but  I  saw  several  pretty 
young  ladies,  very  elegantly  dressed.  Mr.  Bark- 
minster,  the  young  minister,  spoke  with  much 
grace,  and  rather  reasonably  for  a  preacher.  I 
especially  noticed  the  adroit  manner  in  which  he 
brought  politics  into  his  sermon  by  comparing 
Christians  bought  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
but  continually  obliged  to  combat  flesh  and  sin, 
—by  comparing  them,  I  say,  with  the  thirteen 
United  States  which  have  acquired  liberty  and 
independence  but  are  obliged  to  employ  all  their 
strength  to  combat  a  formidable  power  and  to 
preserve  the  treasure  which  they  have  acquired." 
Notwithstanding  the  political  nature  of  some  of 
the  sermons,  we  learn  from  Rochambeau  that 
"owing  to  these  precautions,  religion  did  not  at 
all  enter  into  political  deliberations."  Beaujour 
agrees  with  him  that  "religion  exercises  small  in 
fluence  here.  All  strange  sects  are  admitted." 
[270] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

As  to  the  good  feeling  existing  between  men  of 
different  religious  views  and  the  lack  of  religious 
dissension,  there  are  many  quotations  available; 
let  us  take  one  from  Mandrillon:  "That  which 
is  the  most  edifying  and  at  the  same  time  most 
singular  in  the  conduct  of  all  the  sects  which  have 
peopled  Pennsylvania  is  the  spirit  of  concord 
which  reigns  among  them  in  spite  of  the  differ 
ence  of  their  religious  opinions.  Although  mem 
bers  of  different  churches,  they  love  each  other 
like  children  of  the  same  father.  They  have  al 
ways  lived  as  brothers  because  they  have  enjoyed 
the  liberty  to  think  as  men.  It  is  to  this  precious 
harmony  that  one  should  especially  attribute  the 
rapid  advance  of  the  colony."  The  keen-sighted 
Mazzei  is  particularly  struck  by  what  an  advan 
tage  it  was  to  the  United  States  that  there  was 
no  State  church,  and  also  that  no  one  religion 
dominated  the  others.  It  is  equally  clear  to 
Segur  how  valuable  to  the  nation  is  this  democ 
racy  of  religion:  "Besides,  the  multiplicity  of 
sects  makes  tolerance  indispensable  among  them 
and  what  would  seem  perhaps  very  singular  is 
that  the  Catholics  have  set  the  example.  No 
form  of  belief  is  dominant  there,  nor  privileged. 
The  ministers  of  each  sect  were  paid  by  those  who 
profess  it,  and  they  did  not  tolerate  any  objec 
tionable  jealousy  (mother  of  discords),  but  in 
stead  there  reigned  a  praiseworthy  emulation  in 
[271  ] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

charity  and  other  virtues."  "All  religions,"  says 
Perrm  du  Lac,  "are  respected  and  regarded  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  as  the  most  in 
violable  private  property  of  the  individuals  pro 
fessing  them."  He  counted  fifty- three  different 
sects,  and  says  their  number  was  constantly  being 
increased.  Beaujour  holds  that  "there  is  no  coun 
try  in  the  world  where  there  are  so  many  religious 
sects  as  in  the  United  States;  there  are  fully 
sixty-three,  but  among  them  all  (differing  less  in 
dogma  and  in  morality  than  in  rite  and  discipline) 
there  are  only  two  which  deserve  to  be  distin 
guished  from  the  rest,  because  each  possesses  a 
particular  physiognomy — the  Quakers  and  the 
Unitarians."  Robin  finds  in  Boston  nineteen 
churches  of  all  sorts,  St.  Mery  twelve  churches  of 
ten  sects  in  Baltimore,  and  La  Rochefoucauld  five 
in  Albany,  all  of  different  denominations.  How 
these  various  cults  are  geographically  divided 
seemed  especially  to  interest  Segur,  who  notes 
that  for  religious  reasons  Dutchmen  came  to  New 
England  and  New  York,  Swedes  to  New  Jersey 
and  Delaware,  British  Presbyterians  to  Boston, 
German  Anabaptists  and  Irish  Catholics  to  Penn 
sylvania,  and  French  Protestants  to  the  Carolinas. 
Although  several  of  the  French  writers  criticise 
the  Quakers  for  failing,  because  of  religious 
scruples,  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  it  is  only  just  to  those  worthy  folk  to  report 
[  272  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

a  pleasing  anecdote  of  Segur's  concerning  them: 
"Quakers  are  very  strict  as  far  as  they  personally 
are  concerned,  but  never  did  anyone  push  tolera 
tion  further  than  they,  and  although  war  is  in 
their  eyes  a  great  crime  and  they  detest  the  mili 
tary  profession,  still  they  know  how  to  render 
just  homage  to  warriors  who  are  sparing  of  human 
blood  and  who  combine  virtue  with  bravery. 
One  of  the  most  renowned  among  them  for  his 
spirit  came  to  see  Rochambeau  on  his  way  through 
Philadelphia,  and  this  is  how  he  addressed  him; 
— 'my  friend,  yours  is  a  villainous  business,  but 
they  tell  me  that  you  carry  it  on  with  all  the 
humanity  possible.  I  am  very  glad  of  it,  I  am 
pleased  to  meet  you,  and  I  have  come  to  pay  my 
respects  to  prove  my  esteem  for  you.'  " 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  LEARNED  PROFESSIONS:  LAW, 
MEDICINE,  ARCHITECTURE,  ETC. 

JEALOUS  as  were  our  American  forefathers  of  all 
rank  and  titles,  they  nevertheless  recognized  the 
distinction  due  to  education  and  brains,  the  pos 
session  of  both  of  which  has  always  been  neces 
sary  for  success  in  what  are  styled  the  learned 
professions.  Even  Crevecceur,  that  champion  of 
the  farmer,  cannot  help  admiring  the  superior 
education  of  our  early  lawyers,  although  he 
sounds  a  "wild  alarum,"  which  is  of  itself  a  great 
compliment  to  them  and  their  ability:  "The  three 
principal  classes  of  inhabitants  are  lawyers,  plant 
ers,  and  merchants.  This  is  the  province  which 
has  yielded  the  first  named  their  richest  spoils, 
for  nothing  can  exceed  their  wealth,  their  power, 
or  their  influence, — they  have  reached  the  ne  plus 
ultra  of  worldly  felicity.  These  men  are  rather 
law-givers  than  interpreters  of  the  law,  and  have 
united  here,  as  well  as  in  most  of  the  other  prov 
inces,  the  skill  and  dexterity  of  the  scribe  with 
the  power  and  ambition  of  the  prince.  Who  can 
tell  where  this  may  lead  at  some  future  day  P  In 

[274] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

another  century  the  law  will  possess  in  the  north 
what  now  in  Peru  and  Mexico  belongs  to  the 
church."  But  even  he  grudgingly  admits  that  "in 
some  provinces,  where  every  inhabitant  is  con 
stantly  employed  in  cultivating  and  tilling  the 
earth,  they  are  the  only  men  who  have  any  knowl 
edge.  They  are  here  what  the  clergy  were  in 
past  centuries  with  you."  Although  he  finds  him 
self  unable  to  deny  that  "lawyer  and  merchant 
are  the  fairest  titles  our  town  affords,"  he  insists 
that  "it  is  a  pity  that  our  forefathers,  who  hap 
pily  abolished  so  many  fatal  customs  and  expunged 
from  their  new  government  so  many  errors  and 
abuses,  both  religious  and  civil,  did  not  prevent 
the  introduction  of  a  set  of  men  so  dangerous." 
In  the  same  paragraph,  however,  his  fair-minded 
ness  forces  him  to  admit  of  Nantucket  that  "only 
one  single  lawyer  has  of  late  years  been  able  to 
support  himself  here.  He  is  sometimes  employed 
in  recovering  money  lent  or  in  preventing  those 
events  to  which  the  contentious  propensity  of  its 
inhabitants  may  sometimes  expose  them.  He  is 
seldom  employed  as  a  means  of  self-defense,  and 
much  seldomer  for  attack."  St.  Mery,  whose  so 
journ  in  America  was  long  enough  to  qualify  him 
to  judge  us,  agrees  that  "their  most  remarkable 
men  are  the  lawyers,"  and  adds  "this  profession 
is  more  lucrative  than  in  England." 
Some  idea  of  whether  or  not  the  early  American 

[275] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

lawyer  was  amassing  undue  hoards  of  wealth  was 
learned  by  Chastellux  from  a  youthful  veteran 
of  the  Revolution:  "I  chatted  also  with  Mr. 
Scotland,  a  young  man  who,  although  only  twenty- 
six  years  old,  has  fought  in  three  campaigns  as  a 
Captain  of  Artillery  and  is  now  a  lawyer  with 
already  a  good  practice.  It  is  a  fact  that  in 
America  it  is  the  most  respected  and  lucrative 
profession.  He  told  me  that  for  a  simple  con 
sultation  they  paid  him  ordinarily  four  dollars, 
or  even  a  hah0  joe  (42  livres  of  our  money).  Be 
sides,  after  the  action  is  commenced,  they  pay 
as  much  again  for  each  writ  or  each  deed,  that  is 
to  say,  for  each  step  and  for  each  written  paper, 
for  in  America  lawyers  are  both  solicitors  and  no 
taries."  Although  Brissot  finds  that  "the  fees 
received  by  lawyers  are  much  too  high;  they  are, 
as  in  England,  excessive,"  Chastellux  speaks  of  a 
Mr.  Smith  who  "was  at  the  same  time  innkeeper 
and  lawyer,  and  possesses  a  pretty  library,"  show 
ing  either  that  the  said  Smith  was  an  overgreedy 
accumulator  of  pelf  or  else,  what  is  more  likely, 
that  it  required  something  besides  his  receipts 
from  the  legal  profession  to  support  him!  A 
pleasing  combination — to  adjust  a  man's  legal 
difficulties  and  replenish  his  inner  man  all  at  the 
same  time  and  without  change  of  scene ! 

We  have  already  observed  that  early  society 
tended  to  stratify  itself,  and  that  lawyers  gener- 
[276] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

ally  enjoyed  a  high  standing  in  the  community, 
and  by  way  of  showing  that  other  elements  than 
an  educated  brain  entered  into  it,  there  is  a  charm 
ing  picture  of  a  country  lawyer  from  the  pen  of 
the  Due  de  La  Rochefoucauld:  "I  stopped  to  dine 
at  Bidderfort  (Maine)  at  Mr.  Thasteher's,  a  law 
yer  whom  I  had  seen  at  the  General's  on  their 
return  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  Penobscot. 
Mr.  Thasteher  is  also  a  member  of  Congress;  he 
lives  two  miles  from  town  in  a  modest  dwelling 
which  the  most  insignificant  lawyer  of  France 
would  have  considered  beneath  his  dignity.  Op 
posite  his  house  and  across  the  road  is  a  hut 
twelve  feet  square,  built  of  roughly  joined  planks. 
This  hut,  perched  on  rocks  on  the  side  of  the  road 
(for  all  this  section  is  very  rocky)  is  his  office 
(both  for  business  and  consultation)  and  his 
library.  The  library  is  composed  of  two  thousand 
volumes,  all  excellently  chosen,  not  only  upon 
professional  subjects  but  also  of  history,  customs, 
and  literature.  It  is  provided  with  everything 
new  that  appears  in  America,  and  he  has  sent 
him  from  England  all  works  he  considers  important 
and  which  he  cannot  get  in  the  United  States. 
He  reads  widely  and  is  well  educated.  Both  in 
thought  and  manner  he  displays  an  original  turn 
which  is  not  displeasing  because  unaffected  but 
which  sometimes  imparts  to  his  generally  eccen 
tric  ideas  a  certain  exaggeration  or  even  error. 
[277] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

Simple  in  his  exterior,  rigid  even  to  severity  in 
his  principles,  he  is  kindly,  hospitable,  obliging  and 
respected  in  his  neighborhood.  His  farm-house 
is  never  shut,  his  office  is  always  open,  for  as  he 
has  never  been  robbed  he  thinks  he  should  pay 
homage  to  the  probity  of  his  neighbors  by  this 
uncommon  confidence.  Mr.  Thasteher  complains 
that  the  establishment  of  good  schools  is  not 
prompt  enough  in  his  district." 

As  to  the  conduct  of  lawyers  after  elevation  to 
the  bench,  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that  even  in  the 
early  days  of  our  republic  there  was  the  same  good 
report  of  them  that  there  has  always  been.  Our 
courts  even  then  stood  so  high  in  public  esteem, 
and  have  so  well  maintained  those  early  tradi 
tions,  that  it  is  no  wonder  that  our  chief  tribunal, 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington,  is  to-day  gen 
erally  regarded  as  the  most  admirable  bench  in 
the  world.  Mazzei  says:  "The  manner  of  trying 
cases  in  America  is  pretty  well  known;  it  has  re 
ceived  the  approbation  and  praise  of  even  Abbe 
de  Mably  himself."  Why  not  accompany  St. 
Mery  into  a  court-room  and  see  for  ourselves  with 
his  eyes:  "The  Court  of  Justice  was  assembled 
there  and  we  had  the  curiosity  to  go  and  see  it  in 
session.  One  could  hardly  speak  of  the  court 
room  as  impressive,  but,  when  looking  at  the 
jury,  it  was  impossible  to  refrain  from  admiring 
an  order  of  things  which  leaves  the  decision  of 
[278]  \ 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

cases  to  the  very  class  of  men  who  are  in  a  posi 
tion  to  know  how  they  came  about,  and  in  whom 
the  study  of  law  has  not  supplanted  the  emotions 
of  the  human  heart.  Furthermore,  no  matter 
how  simple  the  temple  consecrated  to  Justice, 
it  always  arouses  the  respect  of  men  devoted 
to  it." 

Turning  from  the  profession  of  law  to  that  of 
medicine,  we  find  that  the  early  American  physi 
cians  shared  with  the  lawyers  their  high  standing 
in  the  community,  just  as  they  equally  enjoyed 
confidential  relations  with  it.  Perhaps  it  is  for 
the  very  reason  that  physicians  and  lawyers  have 
always  stood  so  high  among  us,  that  those  two  pro 
fessions  are,  in  America,  recruited  from  a  better 
class  of  society  than  they  are  abroad.  Brissot 
makes  it  clear  that  there  was  no  sordid  induce 
ment  for  an  American  to  study  medicine,  for  al 
though  he  thought  our  lawyers  overpaid,  he  com 
plains:  "But  the  doctors  have  not  the  same 
advantage  in  this  respect  as  the  lawyers."  And 
he  goes  on  to  explain  why  the  doctors  did  not  earn 
so  much  as  the  lawyers:  "The  good  health  which 
is  generally  enjoyed  here  makes  them  less  neces 
sary,  and  yet  they  are  pretty  numerous.  There 
are  few  maladies  here,  the  air  is  healthy  in  spite 
of  the  nearness  of  the  sea  and  the  insular  posi 
tion  of  the  city  (New  York) ;  the  inhabitants  are 
pretty  temperate.  Men  of  means  are  not  rich 
[279] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

enough  to  give  themselves  over  to  that  luxury 
and  debauchery  which  kill  so  many  in  Europe 
and  there  are  no  really  poor  people, — fish  and 
meat  being  cheap."  How  discouraging  was  our 
good  health  to  the  medical  profession  also  appears 
from  Crevecceur's  account  of  Nantucket:  "Sin 
gular  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  there  are  but  two  medi 
cal  practitioners  on  the  Island — for  what  service 
can  physic  be  in  a  primitive  society  where  inebria 
tion  is  so  rare?"  La  Rochefoucauld  tells  us  to 
what  straits  the  medical  profession  of  Maine  was 
reduced:  "The  country  is  absolutely  bare  of  sur 
geons,  or  at  least  of  men  who  have  sufficient 
knowledge  to  deserve  the  name.  The  inhabitants 
are  not  numerous  nor  rich  enough  to  have  good 
surgeons.  This  profession,  always  coupled  with 
another  more  useful,  becomes  a  secondary  occupa 
tion,  and  is  only  practised  by  ignorant  fellows  who 
hardly  know  how  to  bleed  you." 

Chastellux  is  not  the  only  one  to  comment  upon 
how  often  American  doctors  were  wise  enough  to 
recommend  a  change  of  air  instead  of  plying  their 
patients  with  drugs.  As  showing  the  appreciation 
abroad  of  the  place  enjoyed  in  the  community 
by  American  physicians,  and  therefore  how  ex 
pedient  it  seemed  to  gain  their  favor,  Crevecceur, 
after  the  war,  when  he  became  French  Consul  in 
New  York,  issued  a  general  notice,  November 
17,  1783,  to  all  medical  societies  offering  to  fur- 
[280] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

nish  them  certain  French  medical  journals  at  the 
expense  of  his  king,  which  offer  received  a  number 
of  acceptances. 

Passing  from  those  professions  which  peculiarly 
need  the  intimate  confidence  of  clients,  to  those 
in  which  relations  are  more  commercial  and 
formal,  we  find  that  engineering,  as  a  profession, 
was  as  yet  so  much  in  embryo  as  to  excite  but 
little  comment  from  the  French.  General  Wash 
ington's  skill  as  a  surveyor  was  generally  re 
marked  by  them,  but  that  was  rather  because 
everything  that  had  to  do  with  him  seemed  to 
exert  a  fascination  upon  the  foreigners,  a  con 
temporary  effect  which  goes  far  to  justify  his 
place  in  our  hearts  to-day.  Surveying  when  it 
touched  Washington  interested  them,  but  not 
otherwise.  Our  great  public  works  which  were 
to  develop  a  power  rendering  us  the  only  nation 
in  the  world  capable  of  constructing  the  Panama 
Canal,  were  as  yet  only  possibilities  of  the  dim 
future.  The  Frenchmen,  of  course,  wrote  only 
of  what  they  could  see,  and  although  there  was 
but  little  of  engineering  results  for  them  to  de 
scribe,  they  do  tell  us  much  of  our  early  architec 
ture,  whose  tendencies  were  even  then  remarked 
as  typically  American. 

Says  Crevecceur:  "An  European  on  his  arrival 
must  be  greatly  surprised  to  see  the  elegance  of 
their  houses,  their  sumptuous  furniture,  as  well  as 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  magnificence  of  their  tables, — can  he  imagine 
himself  in  a  country,  the  establishment  of  which  is 
of  so  recent  a  date  ?  "  Let  us  see  just  how  all  this 
actually  did  strike  such  an  arriving  European,  in 
the  person  of  Abbe  Robin,  the  observant  chaplain 
of  Rochambeau's  army:  "From  this  harbor  full  of 
pleasant  islands  we  see  among  the  trees  on  the 
western  shore  a  magnificent  perspective  of  houses 
in  an  amphitheatre,  stretching  round  in  a  half 
circle  for  more  than  half  a  league, — that  is  Roston. 
These  high,  regular  buildings,  interspersed  with 
clock-towers,  strike  us  less  as  a  modern  colony 
than  an  ancient  city,  embellished  and  peopled  by 
commerce  and  the  arts.  .  .  This  street  is  adorned 
with  fine  houses,  for  the  most  part  two  or  three 
stories  high.  The  construction  of  the  houses  is 
surprising  to  European  eyes.  They  are  entirely 
of  wood,  not  built  in  the  heavy  and  sombre  fash 
ion  of  our  ancient  towns  but  regularly  and  well- 
lighted.  The  carpenter-work  is  neat  and  well 
done,  and  the  outsides  are  of  smooth  planks, 
clapboarded  one  above  another  like  the  tiles  on 
our  roofs;  they  are  painted  grey,  adding  greatly 
to  the  pleasing  appearance.  The  roofs  are  orna 
mented  with  balustrades,  doubtless  because  of 
fires.  The  houses  are  built  on  foundations  con 
sisting  of  a  wall  about  a  foot  high : — one  sees  at  a 
glance  how  much  healthier  these  houses  must  be 
than  ours.  All  the  parts  are  solidly  interlocked 
[282! 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

and  their  weight  is  so  trifling  in  comparison  with 
their  bulk  that  the  houses  can  be  moved  about. 
I  saw  one  of  two  stories  which  had  been  trans 
ported  at  least  an  eighth  of  a  league.  The  entire 
French  army  witnessed  a  similar  feat  at  Newport. 
What  we  hear  of  the  travelling  houses  of  the 
Scythians  is  far  less  marvellous."  Mandrillon 
characterizes  Boston's  buildings  both  public  and 
private  as  "magnificent."  He  also  says  of  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  that  it  had  "some  public 
buildings  which  would  pass  for  handsome  even  in 
Europe."  Another  arriving  European,  this  time 
the  Comte  de  Segur,  remarks  of  Dover,  Delaware, 
one  of  the  first  towns  he  encounters:  "All  the 
houses  of  Dover  present  simple  but  elegant  shapes. 
They  are  built  of  wood,  and  painted  different 
colors.  This  variety  in  building,  the  cleanliness 
that  reigns  in  them,  the  highly  polished  bronze 
door-knockers,  all  announce  the  order,  activity, 
intelligence  and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants." 
Beau  jour  takes  an  opposite  view  and  snubs  us 
severely:  "Their  civil  architecture  is  as  yet  un 
formed,  and  their  style  in  construction  is  as  petty 
as  their  custom  of  building  in  parallel  lines  is 
tiresome.  All  the  cities,  moreover,  are  built  of 
brick  or  painted  boards,  and  if  one  excepts  cer 
tain  edifices  used  for  public  banks,  nothing  could 
be  more  trivial  than  their  architecture.  It  is 
Dutch  wedded  to  Chinese,  if  one  can  apply  such 
[288] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

names  to  this  grotesque  style."  By  the  time 
Brissot  arrived  this  Dutch  tendency  in  our  archi 
tecture  was  being  modified:  "Elegant  buildings 
in  the  English  style  are  replacing  the  houses  with 
Dutch  pointed  gables.  There  are  a  few  still  to 
be  found  in  the  old  style  and  they  are  pleasing 
to  an  European  observer  for  they  remind  him  of 
the  origin  of  this  colony."  St.  Mery  says  the 
houses  are  built  by  day  labor,  and  especially  no 
tices  that  in  the  cities  the  cellar  doors  are  allowed 
to  encroach  upon  the  sidewalks.  Mandrillon 
finds  that  "the  houses  of  New  York,  built  of 
brick  and  roofed  with  tiles,  are  more  comfortable 
than  elegant,"  but  Crevecceur  holds  that  they 
reveal  "a  union  of  Dutch  neatness  with  English 
taste  and  architecture."  Although  but  little  is 
said  of  large  rooms  and  halls  devoted  to  public 
entertainments,  it  is  natural  that  the  following 
reference  to  a  Boston  ballroom  should  be  found 
in  the  pages  of  Chastellux,  the  pet  of  society: 
"It  is  superb,  beautiful  in  its  architecture,  well 
decorated  and  lighted."  De  Broglie  found  no 
architecture  in  Philadelphia  admirable  except  the 
prison,  and  Chateaubriand  thought  the  uninter 
rupted  level  of  the  housetops  very  monotonous ! 

Turning  to  humbler  and  more  prosaic  surround 
ings,  we  learn  from  Brissot  that  "the  shops  in 
the  country  are  always  apart  from  the  houses. 
This  proves  a  taste  for  cleanliness  and  also  their 
[284] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

respect  both  for  home  life  and  their  women,  be 
cause  the  men  who  come  to  purchase  have,  thanks 
to  this  arrangement,  nothing  to  do  with  them." 
Most  of  the  remarks  upon  architecture  treat  of 
country  houses,  and  St.  Mery  elucidates  for  us 
the  manner  in  which  those  buildings  gradually 
improve  with  the  circumstances  of  the  owner: 
"On  the  highway  between  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  the  settlers  built  first  a  log  cabin,  after  a 
while  a  wooden  house  of  boards,  and  still  later 
on  a  mansion  often  of  stone, — at  which  time  they 
employed  the  wooden  house  as  a  kitchen  and  the 
log  cabin  as  a  stable."  That  these  country  houses 
were  constantly  increasing  in  number  is  clear 
from  Robin's  observation  that  "there  are  no  longer, 
as  in  Connecticut,  only  an  occasional  house  along 
the  road  just  large  enough  to  lodge  one  family, 
and  furnished  with  what  is  barely  necessary;  here 
in  Maryland  there  are  spacious  homes  isolated 
from  each  other,  made  up  of  different  buildings 
surrounded  by  plantations;  their  furniture  is  of 
costly  woods  and  rare  marbles,  adorned  by  skillful 
artists."  In  Connecticut  he  comments  again  upon 
the  ample  proportions  characteristic  of  our  archi 
tecture:  "Their  houses  are  spacious,  clean,  well- 
aired,  built  of  wood,  possessing  every  comfort. 
I  found  in  all  of  them  indications  of  their  in 
dustrious  and  inventive  genius."  This  same  com 
fortable  feature  impresses  La  Rochefoucauld  dur- 
[286] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ing  his  visit  to  General  Knox's  country  place: 
"The  houses  are  built  near  together,  but  out  of 
a  hundred  visible  from  the  General's  house  there 
are  hardly  half  a  dozen  log-houses.  His  own 
house  is  a  fine  one  without  being  magnificent, 
well-furnished  but  not  luxurious,  commodious 
enough  to  lodge  comfortably  a  large  family  which 
may  still  increase,  and  also  to  entertain  seven  or 
eight  friends." 

St.  Mery  notices  how  our  architecture  is  adapted 
to  local  conditions:  "In  Norfolk,  Virginia,  the 
houses  are  built  with  a  central  hall  running  through 
them,  which  provides  a  living  room  for  warm 
weather."  Bayard  also  mentions  the  feeling  of 
comfort  which  American  houses  seemed  to  inspire 
in  the  French:  "On  a  sloping  hillside  you  observe 
beside  the  road  a  white  house  with  green  blinds, — 
it  belongs  to  Mr.  Smith.  There  are  two  rooms 
below  and  the  same  number  of  bed-chambers  on 
the  first  floor.  The  door  is  in  the  middle.  Be 
tween  the  parlors  runs  a  wide  corridor,  open  at 
both  ends,  to  provide  a  current  of  air  during  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  dog-days.  The  kitchen  is 
separated  from  the  house  by  a  covered  passage. 
One  might  describe  the  parlors  as  handsomely 
furnished  because  the  walls  are  covered  with 
pretty  paper."  Blanchard  also  notices  that  "they 
make  use  of  paper  to  cover  their  walls  instead  of 
tapestry  and  have  some  very  pretty  ones."  Bris- 
[286] 


I 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

sot  saw  "some  pretty  wall  paper"  at  Mr.  Over- 
leaf's  inn  at  Portsmouth. 

The  luxurious  Chastellux  was  not  so  easily 
satisfied  with  his  lodgings  in  a  Virginia  country- 
house  as  the  rest  of  his  countrymen  might  have 
been:  "Their  houses  are  spacious  and  well  fur 
nished,  but  the  bedrooms  are  not  comfortable. 
They  don't  mind  putting  three  or  four  people  in 
the  same  room,  who  are  not  disturbed  by  being  so 
crowded,  because,  not  feeling  the  need  for  writing 
and  reading,  all  they  require  indoors  is  a  bed 
chamber,  a  dining-room  and  a  drawing-room. 
The  chief  magnificence  of  the  Virginians  consists 
of  furniture,  linen,  and  table  silver,  so  that  they 
resemble  our  ancestors  who  had  neither  cabinets 
nor  wardrobes  in  their  chateaux,  but  only  well- 
stocked  wine  cellars  and  good  sideboards." 

It  remains  for  that  charming  courtier,  the 
Comte  de  Segur,  to  fittingly  conclude  these  ob 
servations  upon  our  early  architecture,  by  an 
inspiring  sentence  anent  Philadelphia:  "It  is 
hardly  the  architecture  of  this  city's  edifices,  but 
rather  the  great  memories,  which  attract  one's 
interest  to  them  and  command  one's  respect. 
The  entire  city  is  a  noble  temple  erected  to 
tolerance." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LABOR,  MANUFACTURE,  MERCHANT 
MARINE,  AND  FOREIGN  TRADE 

THAT  an  enterprising  spirit  early  characterized 
American  business,  and  also  that  it  received  wide 
recognition  abroad,  appears  from  the  following 
narrative:  "A  young  man  with  no  capital  at  all 
was  undecided  as  to  what  he  should  do.  He 
selected  from  English  newspapers  the  names  of 
five  commercial  houses,  and  wrote  to  each  of 
them  to  see  if  he  could  find  one  which  would  give 
him  credit.  To  his  great  surprise,  all  five  car 
goes  came  to  him  at  the  same  time."  Interesting 
as  is  this  early  appreciation  by  foreigners  of  the 
alert  progressiveness  of  American  business  men, 
it  is  not  so  significant  to  our  national  well-being 
as  their  chorus  of  approving  comments  upon  the 
dignity  of  labor  in  our  new  republic.  It  is  a  most 
welcome  coincidence  that  foreigners  should  re 
mark  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  just 
as  they  are  accustomed  to  do  to-day,  that  lal>or 
was  better  paid  and  lived  better  in  our  country 
than  in  Europe.  It  has  always  been  our  good 
[288! 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

fortune  that  facts  should  warrant  this  observa 
tion — may  they  never  cease  to  do  so !  Nor  was 
the  reason  far  to  seek — to  labor  was  respectable. 

Segur,  one  of  those  especially  struck  with  the 
dignity  of  labor  in  our  land,  says:  ;< There,  no 
useful  occupation  is  ridiculed  or  despised,  and  amid 
unequal  conditions  all  preserve  the  same  rights. 
Idleness  alone  is  shameful.  Military  rank,  etc., 
does  not  prevent  anyone  from  engaging  in  a  pri 
vate  profession.  Everybody  is  a  merchant,  farmer 
or  artisan.  The  less  well-to-do  are  domestics, 
workmen,  or  sailors;  far  from  resembling  men 
of  the  lower  classes  in  Europe,  here  they  fully 
deserve  the  respect  accorded  them,  and  which 
their  seemly  air  and  conduct  demands."  More 
than  by  anything  else  was  Crevecceur  struck  by 
the  respect  we  accorded  to  honest  toil:  "Every 
one  in  the  town  of  Nantucket  follows  some  occu 
pation  with  diligence  but  without  that  servility 
which  prevails  in  Europe.  The  mechanic  seemed 
to  be  descended  from  as  good  parentage,  was  as 
well  dressed  and  fed,  and  held  in  as  much  esteem 
as  his  employer."  A  few  years  later  on  Beau- 
jour  observed  the  same  state  of  affairs:  "It  must 
be  remarked  that  the  poorest  individual,  the  ordi 
nary  day  laborer,  is  better  fed  and  clad  here  than 
in  any  other  country.  Add  to  this  that  here  one 
never  sees  a  man  in  rags,  and  that  the  poorest 
workman  is  always  cleanly  clad."  Brissot  fully 

[289] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

appreciates  that  the  better  scale  of  living  enjoyed 
by  the  American  workman  than  by  his  European 
brother,  had  a  most  important  bearing  upon  the 
welfare  of  our  people:  " It  is  not  rare  to  see  in  the 
United  States  a  carter  driving  his  cart  and  eating 
a  turkey  wing  and  some  white  bread.  I  have  seen 
a  vessel  arrive  in  New  York  from  Europe  loaded 
with  Scotchmen;  the  next  day  there  was  not  one 
who  was  not  hired  out  and  busy."  He  also  draws 
a  comparison  between  the  wages  paid  here  and 
abroad:  "The  current  rate  for  black  servants  in 
Philadelphia  is  four  to  five  dollars  per  month,  not 
including  food.  You  see  that  these  wages  are 
much  higher  than  that  of  servants  in  our  coun 
try  districts,  and  even  in  our  large  cities,  where 
the  best  paid  do  not  get  more  than  two  hundred 
livres." 

Clearly  as  they  grasped  our  spirit  of  enterprise 
in  commerce,  and  our  higher  regard  for  a  life  of 
toil  than  for  one  of  leisure,  the  Europeans  seemed 
unable  to  understand  how  ready  were  the  Ameri 
cans  to  divert  their  efforts  into  any  new  channel 
which  was  either  more  profitable  or  temporarily 
necessary:  "Because  the  land  [Massachusetts], 
lacking  fertility,  yielded  but  a  modest  return,  they 
turned  to  fishing  and  navigation  and  now  they 
are  fishermen  and  sailors."  It  always  surprised 
the  French  to  find  retired  American  officers  keep 
ing  inns,  nor  could  they  explain  how  General 
[290] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Knox,  a  former  bookseller,  could  almost  at  once 
become  an  excellent  artillery  commander.  Al 
though  they  found  our  enterprise  and  respect  for 
work  typical  yet  understandable,  they  continued 
to  evince  surprise  at  our  adaptability  and  versa 
tility.  No  class  of  our  people  was  a  greater  bene 
ficiary  from  this  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise 
than  that  termed  "labor,"  because  its  high  wages 
and  better  scale  of  living  constantly  benefited 
from  the  employment  demand  caused  by  Ameri 
can  enterprise. 

From  two  serious  labor  evils  then  existing  we 
have  fortunately  since  been  freed,  namely,  slavery 
and  the  use  of  indentured  servants  and  appren 
tices — which  latter  practice  was  carried  to  such 
extremes  as  to  justify  Beaujour's  criticism  that 
while  in  the  South,  one-third  of  the  population 
consisted  of  black  slaves,  in  the  North,  a  quarter 
of  the  entire  youth,  white  as  well  as  black,  were 
bound  by  apprenticeship  contracts.  In  the  re 
marks  which  Brissot  makes  upon  the  latter  un 
fortunate  practice,  he  points  out  the  superior 
efficiency  of  free,  or  unindentured  labor;  "Labor 
ers  are  rare  and  they  are  dear.  However,  I  don't 
know  but  that  the  lower  wages  paid  indentured 
servants  (offset  as  they  are  by  the  lesser  efficiency 
of  these  apprentices)  are  after  all  less  advanta 
geous  to  the  employer  than  the  higher  wages  of 
free  labor."  Roux  also  decided  that  apprenticed 
[291  ] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

labor  cost  more  than  that  of  free  men,  because  of 
the  loss  of  time  teaching  apprentices  to  work,  their 
doctor's  bills,  and  their  ship-money  due  to  the  ship 
captains  who  brought  them  over.  Perrin  du  Lac 
tells  us  that  "this  business  [of  providing  inden 
tured  servants]  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
United  States.  A  ship  captain  arrives  in  Ireland  or 
in  some  Hanseatic  village.  He  announces  that  he 
will  take  back  a  number  of  passengers  .  .  .  those 
who  cannot  pay  their  passage  money  treat  with  him 
for  it.  He  provides  their  food  during  the  voyage, 
and  on  arrival  sells  their  labor  for  an  agreed  sum. 
The  duration  of  their  slavery  never  exceeds  two 
years  for  a  bachelor  nor  four  for  a  man  of  family. 
When  the  time  has  expired  they  are  free,  and  be 
come  citizens." 

Although  in  the  early  colonial  days  it  was  fre 
quently  difficult  for  newcomers  to  acquire  land- 
holdings,  this  gradually  corrected  itself,  and 
Rochambeau  shows  how  easy  it  was  by  the  time 
he  got  here  for  laborers  to  become  landowners: 
"Because  there  is  much  more  land  to  clear  than 
there  are  hands  for  the  work,  laborers  are  much 
sought  after.  The  ordinary  manual  or  day-la 
borer  was  paid  in  my  time  a  piastre  or  five  livres, 
—ten  sous  per  day.  Usually  after  working  stead 
ily  for  six  years  he  has  earned  enough  to  buy  a 
piece  of  land." 

It  was  considered  a  matter  for  congratulation 
[292  ] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

that  the  farmers  expended  much  more  labor  and 
thought  upon  the  farm  than  upon  the  dwelling- 
house;  says  Chastellux:  "Near  Rockaway,  I  was 
astonished  at  the  degree  of  perfection  to  which 
agriculture  is  carried.  Throughout  all  this  State 
the  manor-house  is  very  simple  and  small;  the 
farm  buildings  alone  are  lofty  and  spacious.  Faith 
ful  to  national  economy,  they  sow,  reap  and  sell 
without  enlarging  their  houses  and  expenditures, 
content  to  live  in  the  corner  of  their  farms,  and  to 
be  mere  witnesses  of  their  own  wealth."  Man- 
drillon,  in  his  detailed  account  of  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  each  of  the  States,  ranks  South  Carolina 
at  the  head  of  them  all  in  the  matter  of  cultivation: 
"The  country  is  well  settled, — there  are  few  dis 
tricts  in  Europe  where  civilization  and  agriculture 
reach  so  high  a  degree  of  perfection." 

After  this  consideration  of  the  lot  of  labor,  that 
potent  factor  in  the  welfare  of  a  nation,  let  us 
learn  what  the  French  thought  of  its  employment 
in  manufacture, — the  new  field  in  which  we  were 
later  to  prove  so  successful.  Says  Bayard,  by 
way  of  looking  into  the  future:  "Americans  will 
surely  perfect  the  machines  which  assist  the  me 
chanical  arts  because  hand  labor  will  be  very 
dear  there  for  several  centuries.  Their  mills  are 
superior  to  those  of  Europe."  He  was  evidently 
better  informed  than  Gerard,  the  French  Minister, 
who  in  1778  wrote  home  to  Vergennes,  the  Min- 
[2Q3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

ister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  that  "all  the  colonists  of 
English  extraction,  except  those  of  New  England, 
are  alien  by  character  and  custom  alike  to  this 
sort  of  work  [manufacturing]."  In  this  connec 
tion  he  also  pointed  out  that  "labor,  always 
dearer  in  America  than  in  England,  has  become 
even  more  so  by  depopulation  caused  by  the  war, 
by  men  gone  off  to  the  army,  and  for  the  three 
hundred  privateering  ships,  and  also  by  the  failure 
to  import  men  to  fill  their  vacancies."  De  Kalb 
early  noted  the  feeling  among  Americans  that 
they  should  not  confine  themselves  to  agriculture 
and  fishing,  but  should  invade  the  field  of  manu 
facturing,  and  he  reports  to  the  French  govern 
ment  certain  patriotic  efforts  being  made  to  that 
end:  "There  has  just  been  formed  in  Boston  a 
company  of  rich  men  willing  to  make  large  ad 
vances  for  the  encouragement  of  all  sorts  of  manu 
factures."  And  several  years  later,  Brissot  no 
tices  the  same  admirable  plan  in  operation: 
"They  have  formed  a  company  to  assist  and  en 
courage  manufactures  and  business.  These  com 
panies  are  in  general  composed  of  merchants, 
farmers,  and  the  principal  agents  of  the  govern 
ment;  each  contributes  his  knowledge  and  a 
small  sum  of  money.  In  these  companies  they 
are  not  seeking  ideals  alone  but  rather  utility  and 
real  profit."  He  also  says:  " Two  things  are  very 
much  the  rage  now  among  the  Americans,  viz.: 

[294] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

emigration  to  the  west  and  manufacturing.  On 
this  last  point  Massachusetts  seeks  to  rival  Con 
necticut  and  Pennsylvania." 

All  the  French  felt  that  we  should  strive  to 
become  independent  of  foreign  factories,  and 
Mandrillon  goes  into  discriminating  detail  in  his 
advice  upon  the  subject:  "But  in  regard  to  manu 
factures,  a  different  course  of  conduct  should  be 
followed.  Instead  of  giving  general  encourage 
ment  to  the  exercise  of  all  the  arts  as  in  Great 
Britain,  they  should  choose  with  sagacity  and  pre 
caution  certain  objects  for  the  success  of  which 
they  can  reasonably  hope  and  this  choice  should 
be  of  articles  of  prime  necessity  or  those  at  least 
without  which  it  is  difficult  to  get  along."  How 
prone  our  own  people  were  to  continue  in  agricul 
tural  pursuits,  and  to  depend  upon  newly  arrived 
foreigners  to  meet  our  manufacturing  needs  ap 
pears  from  a  report  of  February  28,  1795,  sent  by 
Minister  Fauchet  and  his  fellow  Commissioners 
to  the  French  government:  "It  is  an  incontesta 
ble  fact  that  America  owes  what  few  manufac 
tures  it  possesses  to  emigrants  from  Europe. 
The  latest  revolutions  in  Geneva  are  going  to 
give  it  (America)  clockmaking,  something  which 
does  not  exist  here.  Five  or  six  hundred  Geneva 
artisans  and  capitalists  driven  from  their  own 
country  have  united  to  erect  an  establishment 
on  the  North  River  in  New  York  State.  The  land 
[296] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

is  actually  bought  and  the  preliminary  arrange 
ments  completed." 

Mazzei  comments  on  our  backwardness  in  the 
matter  of  manufactured  products:  "We  have  al 
ready  remarked  the  reasons  why  manufactures 
have  not  been  able,  and  will  not  for  a  long  time  be 
able,  to  establish  themselves  in  the  United  States, 
at  least  in  those  parts  which  can  easily  trade  with 
Europe.  The  only  objects  which  they  make  in 
America,  especially  in  the  interior  for  the  use  of 
those  who  live  there,  are  of  such  heavy  merchan 
dise  as  cannot  stand  the  increase  of  price  oc 
casioned  by  freight  and  other  expenses." 

Brissot  has  the  clearest  vision  of  all  as  to  our 
future  manufacturing  triumphs:  "You  will  see  the 
American  opening  new  markets  and  locating  in  his 
fatherland  those  British  manufactures  which  Eng 
land  had  reserved  for  herself,  and  by  this  readjust 
ment  of  industrial  procedure  reverse  the  balance  of 
trade  that  used  to  be  against  America."  How 
well  this  new  movement  was  already  succeeding  in 
1778  appears  from  Brissot's  statement  in  that  year: 
"If  any  table  of  statistics  can  give  you  an  idea  of 
the  prosperity  towards  which  these  confederated 
commonwealths  are  hastening,  it  is  that  of  their 
exportations,  which  are  constantly  on  the  increase. 
It  is  difficult  even  to  enumerate  all  the  manufac 
tured  articles  which  the  Americans  now  export 
and  of  which  almost  one  half  were  until  recently 

[296] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

unknown  to  them."    As  illustrating  the  interest 
which  all  Americans  were  then  taking  in  our  new 
manufacturing  ventures,  the  postscript  of  a  letter 
written  by  Washington  to  Lafayette,  dated  New 
York,  October  11,  1790,  is  in  point:   "I  send  you 
a  pair  of  shoe-buckles,  not  for  the  value  of  the 
present  but  as  a  remembrance,  and  as  a  sample 
of  a  manufactured  article  of  this  city."     A  few 
years    later    Beaujour    comments:     "Industrial 
manufacturing  which  for  a  long  time  remained 
stationary   in   the   United   States,   has   recently 
made  rapid  progress."     He  also  comments  in  an 
illuminating  manner  on  the  status  of  manufactur 
ing  as  seen  by  him  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
century:  "No  prohibitive  system, — no  monopoly, 
hampers  business  in  this  country,  and  when  one 
thinks  of  the  prohibitions  and  monopolies  which 
interfere  with  it  in  others,  it  is  surprising  that 
manufactures  have  not  made  even  more  progress 
here ;  but  besides  the  lack  of  training  which  every 
where  retards  the  progress  of  the  arts,  that  which 
particularly  must  retard  it  in  the  United  States 
is  the  dearness  of  hand  labor.     In  France,  the 
average  price  of  work  by  the  day  is  two  francs  in 
towns  and  one  and  a  half  in  the  country ;  here,  it 
is  one  dollar  in  the  towns  and  three-quarters  of  a 
dollar  in  the  country,  and,  as  the  dollar  is  worth 
five  and  a  quarter  francs,  you  see  that  labor  is 
three  times  dearer  here  than  in  France.     The  high 
[297] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

price  of  labor  is  therefore  the  principal  cause 
which  retards  the  progress  of  manufacturing  in 
the  United  States,  and  Americans  will  not  be  able 
to  equal  Europeans  until,  following  the  English 
custom,  they  shall  have  supplemented  by  numer 
ous  machines  the  high  price  of  hand  labor.  They 
have  not  as  yet  come  to  manufacture  half  of  what 
they  consume  and,  in  view  of  all  they  buy  abroad, 
one  would  think  that  they  were  still  only  a 
European  colony." 

That  acute  observer  Brissot  gives  us  credit  for 
intelligent  specializing  in  our  efforts:  "But  there 
is  almost  no  part  of  the  United  States  where  they 
do  not  have  very  fine  mills  for  corn  or  to  saw  wood 
into  planks.  The  northern  States  also  have  them 
for  making  iron.  It  is  especially  in  the  construc 
tion  of  mills  that  the  Americans  are  distinguished, 
either  for  diversifying  their  use  or  for  building  and 
distributing  them."  This  reference  to  specializing 
in  commerce  causes  us  to  turn  back  to  one  of  the 
proudest  pages  in  our  history — our  former  world 
wide  pre-eminence  in  constructing  ships,  which 
resulted  in  a  splendid  merchant  marine,  and  which 
put  into  American  pockets  the  sumptuous  profits 
of  a  great  ocean-carrying  trade  which  we  now 
apathetically  permit  to  go  abroad,  while  our 
merchant  flags  decorate  museums  or  dangle  from 
the  sterns  of  coastwise  shipping !  The  writer  re 
members  that  during  the  two  years  he  spent  in 

[298] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Buenos  Aires,  only  one  merchant  ship  bearing 
the  American  flag  came  to  that  crowded  port. 
In  the  year  1911,  no  merchant  vessel  carrying 
the  American  flag  entered  the  ports  of  London, 
of  Havre,  or  Marseilles ! 

But  let  us  turn  back  to  a  pleasanter  picture. 
Beaujour  tells  us  that  "the  most  important  branch 
of  American  industry  is  the  construction  of  ships. 
The  Americans  excel  in  naval  architecture,  and  on 
this  point  they  rival  the  most  industrious  peoples 
of  Europe.  The  finest  ships  come  from  the  dock 
yards  of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  New  York, 
but  the  best  of  all  are  those  built  of  wood  from  the 
Carolinas  in  the  southern  ports.  They  estimate 
the  annual  tonnage  of  vessels  constructed  in  the 
different  shipyards  at  near  one  hundred  thousand 
tons."  Abbe  Robin  speaks  as  decidedly  as  do  all 
the  others  on  this  subject:  "Their  shipyards,  estab 
lished  in  all  their  ports,  have  made  them  the  rivals 
of  the  best  constructors  of  the  old  world.  The 
commerce  of  Boston  furnished  to  Great  Britain 
masts  and  yards  for  the  Royal  Navy.  The  Ameri 
cans  constructed  on  commission  or  for  their  own 
account  a  large  number  of  merchant  ships  re 
nowned  for  the  superiority  of  their  sailing  powers. 
They  are  so  lightly  built  that  one  does  not  need 
to  be  a  connoisseur  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
ships  of  all  other  nations."  Pontgibaud  remarks: 
"I  found  a  fine  looking  three-master  for  they  en- 
[299] 


FRENCH   MEMORIES  OF 

joyed,  and  justly,  the  reputation  of  being  very 
good  shipbuilders."  And  St.  Mery,  who  came 
to  America  in  one  of  our  vessels,  testifies  that 
"American  ships  are  solidly  built,  are  very  clean 
and  well  furnished, — a  good  deal  of  mahogany 
being  used."  How  widely  this  superiority  was 
recognized  abroad  appears  from  Brissot's  remark 
that  "the  Dutch  houses  which  trade  with  America 
have  given  up  using  Dutch  ships,  which,  much 
heavier  than  American  ones,  require  a  longer 
time  for  the  trip.  ...  I  have  since  learned  that 
this  ship  made  another  voyage  to  Marseilles  and 
was  sold  there  to  a  French  house.  This  sale  of 
American  constructed  ships  is  a  branch  of  indus 
try  which  will  some  day  expand  and  become  very 
advantageous  to  the  Americans  who  both  con 
struct  vessels  and  sell  them."  He  quotes  Lord 
Sheffield  as  saying  that  the  building  of  ships, 
either  for  sale  or  hire,  is  a  very  considerable 
branch  of  commerce  with  the  Americans.  De 
Kalb  in  a  report  to  the  French  Government,  says : 
"I  am  constantly  astonished  at  the  great  number 
of  merchant  vessels  which  I  see  in  the  harbors, 
rivers,  and  bays,  all  the  way  from  the  Potomac 
River  and  Chesapeake  Bay  in  Virginia  as  far  up 
as  Boston.  I  find  everywhere  a  great  deal  of 
work  going  on  in  the  shipyards."  Perrin  du  Lac 
predicted  that  our  "shipbuilding  will,  for  a  long 
time,  prove  a  source  of  riches  and  prosperity;" — 
alas,  that  the  period  should  have  ended. 
[3oo] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

Mandrillon  explains  how  the  greatest  possible 
profit  was  skilfully  drawn  from  this  industry : 
"The  construction  of  ships  is  considerable  in  this 
province  of  New  England;  they  send  them  to  the 
West  Indies  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  cargoes  which 
are  sold  there  in  exchange  for  the  produce  of 
those  islands,  which  they  thereupon  carry  to  Great 
Britain,  where  both  vessels  and  cargo  are  sold, 
and  then  they  send  back  from  there  sail  cloth  and 
other  articles  to  complete  the  equipment  of  other 
ships  already  under  construction  in  their  yards." 

So  successful  did  we  become  in  ship-building 
that  both  the  French  and  the  English  govern 
ments,  fearing  competition,  spread  the  rumor 
abroad  that  our  wood  was  so  poor  that  ships  con 
structed  of  it  were  of  but  short  life.  Fortunately 
for  us  who  are  seeking  the  facts  so  many  years  after, 
we  find  that  even  abroad  there  arose  a  chorus 
of  denials  of  this  mercantile  fairy- tale.  Brissot 
says:  "The  bad  material  which  is  alleged  against 
American  vessels  is  a  fable.  The  art  of  constructing 
vessels  has  made  more  rapid  progress  in  America 
than  anywhere  else.  .  .  .  Boston  has  produced 
some  astonishing  naval  constructors.  Having  long 
and  strenuously  studied  to  combine  swiftness  with 
strength  in  vessels,  Mr.  Peck  had  achieved  the 
greatest  success.  It  was  from  his  hands  that  there 
came  the  'Belisaire,'  the  'Hazard'  and  the  'Rattle 
snake,'  all  so  brilliantly  distinguished  for  their 
speed  during  the  last  war.  The  bows  constructed 
[Soil 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

by  this  clever  architect  have  qualities  which  others 
lack;  they  carry  a  quarter  more  and  sail  much  more 
swiftly.  The  English  themselves  recognize  the  su 
periority  of  American  construction.  The  Amer 
icans  say  to  have  a  perfect  vessel  you  must  have  a 
Boston  keel  and  Philadelphia  sides."  He  feels  so 
strongly  on  this  subject  that  he  devotes  an  entire 
chapter  to  his  argument  for  American  ships:  "I 
have  seen  in  this  port  one  of  those  packet-boats 
intended  for  the  service  between  France  and  the 
United  States.  This  ship,  the  *  Marechal  de  Cas 
tries,'  was  built  in  America  and  has  the  reputa 
tion  of  being  an  excellent  sailer;  she  is  the  best 
reply  to  the  stories  emanating  from  the  Navy 
Department  in  Versailles  against  the  value  of 
American  timber  and  the  quality  of  their  con 
struction."  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
record  that  the  French  government  thought  suffi 
ciently  well  of  our  trees  to  send  Michaux,  the  elder, 
to  America  to  collect  and  send  home,  for  planta 
tion  at  Rambouillet,  such  trees  as  he  thought  would 
grow  in  France.  During  his  first  year  here  he 
sent  home  over  six  thousand  seedling  trees. 

The  flourishing  condition  of  American  ship 
building  and  its  resultant  product— a  strong  mer 
chant  marine — were  together  most  helpful  to  all 
American  industries  needing  foreign  markets  for 
their  wares.  Indeed,  without  the  aid  of  this  ship 
ping,  no  markets  at  all  would  have  existed  for 
[802] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

many  of  our  products,  as  Beaujour  clearly  points 
out:  "Having  nothing  to  exchange  among  them 
selves  but  their  agricultural  produce,  their  do 
mestic  commerce  is  practically  restricted  to  that 
along  the  coast.  They  have  almost  none  in  the 
interior  because  there  are  only  a  few  macadam 
ized  roads  and  an  even  smaller  number  of  naviga 
ble  canals,  but  the  rivers,  most  of  which  are  tidal 
very  far  up,  assist  interior  navigation  and  also 
the  small  boat  traffic  which  employs  annually 
three  hundred  thousand  tons  and  twenty  thousand 
sailors.  .  .  .  Foreign  trade  is,  therefore,  the  most 
important  business  for  Americans  who,  having 
superseded  the  Dutch  in  the  ocean-carrying  trade, 
have  likewise  developed  their  commerce  far  out 
of  proportion  to  other  nations."  He  adds  valua 
ble  observations  on  the  profits  of  the  carrying 
trade.  The  more  he  investigates  this  interesting 
subject,  the  more  is  he  amazed  at  the  sudden  rise 
and  spread  of  our  foreign  trade :  "The  commercial 
avidity  of  the  Americans  equals  and  even  sur 
passes  the  English.  These  people  have  hardly 
appeared  upon  the  ocean  and  yet  already  there 
is  not  a  shore  on  the  globe  nor  a  sea  that  their 
navigators  have  not  explored."  Talleyrand,  too, 
noticed  how  promptly  our  enterprising  ancestors 
seized  upon  new  opportunities:  "In  1794  I  wit 
nessed  the  return  of  the  first  American  expedition 
which  had  gone  to  Bengal.  The  shippers  made 
[3o3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

immense  profits,  and  the  very  next  year  fourteen 
American  vessels  set  sail  for  India  from  different 
ports  to  dispute  with  the  English  the  rich  profits 
of  that  trade."  Of  the  remarkable  enterprise 
displayed  by  this  infant  among  the  nations,  no 
testimony  is  more  convincing  than  that  of  La 
Rochefoucauld:  "Boston  trades  with  the  entire 
universe.  This  trait  of  enterprise  in  navigation, 
credited  to  Americans  in  general,  seems  in  particu 
lar  to  belong  to  New  England.  Although  the  com 
merce  of  a  great  number  of  Massachusetts  ports 
to  the  north  and  the  south  of  Boston  has  for  sev 
eral  years  considerably  increased,  I  hear  that  the 
commerce  of  that  city,  far  from  having  suffered 
thereby,  has  itself  increased  for  several  years  and 
has  never  been  in  a  more  flourishing  state." 
"There  is  no  jealousy,"  says  Milliard  d'Auberteuil, 
"existing  between  Boston,  New  York,  Charleston, 
and  Philadelphia — only  a  useful  rivalry."  Nor 
was  Boston  the  only  point  in  New  England  which 
was  gaining,  for  La  Rochefoucauld  tells  us  of  Salem 
that  its  population,  "which  increases  yearly,  is  to 
day  ten  thousand.  In  commerce  this  city  holds 
the  sixth  rank  in  America,  and  the  second  in 
Massachusetts.  The  peculiar  activity  and  enter 
prising  genius  of  its  inhabitants  suffice  to  explain 
the  extent  and  progress  of  this  commerce." 

In  view  of  the  present  great  awakening  of  inter 
est  in  our  relations  with  South  America,  it  is  timely 
[3o4] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

to  note  that  way  back  in  1787  Soules  prophesied 
that,  "when  you  finally  become  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  foreign  trade,  Spanish  America  will 
offer  you  a  fine  outlet  for  your  products."  His 
plan,  however,  was  to  exchange  our  goods  for  the 
output  of  their  gold  mines,  not  dreaming  that  the 
fertile  plains  of  Argentina  would  some  day  out 
strip  mines  in  productive  possibilities.  Of  all  the 
references  to  how  widely  our  merchants  and  ship 
pers  then  pushed  their  trade,  none  is  more  en 
lightening  than  La  Rochefoucauld's,  that  "the  pur 
pose  of  the  vessels  which  go  to  the  west  coast  of 
North  America  is  to  buy  sealskins  there,  which 
they  exchange  in  Canton  for  Chinese  merchandise 
to  be  brought  back  to  America,  and  either  used 
there  or  exported  to  Europe.  .  .  .  The  ordinary 
length  of  this  trip  from  Boston  of  ships  from 
ninety  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons  is  sixteen  or 
eighteen  months.  The  profit  is  three  hundred 
per  cent."  The  profits  of  the  ocean-carrying  trade 
are  constantly  growing  greater  but  we  allow  them 
to  slip  into  foreign  pockets.  In  view  of  the  piti 
fully  low  ebb  to  which  our  statesmen  have  per 
mitted  our  merchant  marine  to  fall,  it  is  pathetic 
to  read  Hilliard  d'AuberteiuTs  prediction:  "They 
will  without  doubt  become  the  greatest  sailors  in 
the  universe,  and  the  sovereigns  of  the  ocean." 
We  all  want  to  get  back  to  some  such  laws  as  were 
put  on  our  statute  books  in  1789  by  Washington, 
[3o51 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

Madison,  and  Jefferson,  at  a  time  when  our  ships 
carried  but  twenty-three  per  cent  of  our  exports 
and  imports,  and  which  laws  by  1800  had  already 
raised  that  percentage  to  eighty -nine  per  cent, 
and  by  1810  to  ninety-one  and  one-half  per  cent, 
at  the  same  time  giving  us  a  merchant  marine 
that  won  for  us  the  War  of  1812.  In  1828,  when 
we  were  carrying  eighty-nine  per  cent  of  our  trade, 
the  agricultural  South  and  West,  raising  the  cry 
of  subsidies,  combined  against  the  shipping  in 
terests  of  New  England  and  passed  the  Reciproc 
ity  Act  of  1828,  opening  our  trade  to  foreign  com 
petition,  whereupon  there  at  once  began  a  loss 
which  by  now  has  shrunk  our  total  down  to  a 
paltry  and  shameful  eight  per  cent. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  well-paid  labor,  the  in 
fant  manufacturing  industries,  and  the  already 
vigorous  foreign  trade  of  three  million  Americans 
as  the  eighteenth  century  ended,  makes  a  strange 
contrast  to  the  huge  proportions  of  those  three 
elements  attained  by  a  hundred  million  of  us, 
their  descendants  to-day.  Given  a  persistence  of 
the  national  traits  which  have  achieved  these  re 
sults,  it  makes  one's  brain  reel  to  think  of  what  our 
children's  children  will  witness  and  enjoy ! 


3o6] 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  ALLIED  ARMIES 

ALTHOUGH  this  book  concerns  itself  only  with 
the  customs  and  manners  of  the  people,  there 
needs  but  a  brief  study  of  the  American  army  to 
justify  the  inclusion  of  this  chapter.  Our  Con 
tinental  army  was  little  else  than  a  temporary 
banding  together  of  citizens,  which,  its  purpose 
achieved,  promptly  dissolved  into  the  original 
elements.  Their  social  habits  while  soldiering 
were  in  no  wise  altered  by  that  temporary  condi 
tion,  nor  did  they  take  back  into  private  life  any 
thing  of  what  a  European  understood  by  the 
phrase  "soldierly  habits."  They  were  citizens, 
first,  last,  and  all  the  time,  both  "the  man  behind 
the  gun,"  and  "the  man  with  the  hoe."  Reason 
being  thus  shown  for  a  chapter  on  the  American 
army,  our  readers^would,  we  feel  sure,  be  rightfully 
disappointed  if  nothing  were  said  about  the  splen 
did  French  troops  to  which  we  owe  so  much. 
Besides,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  neglect  the  oppor 
tunity  to  contrast  the  two  forces,  so  united  in 
spirit,  so  widely  different  in  appearance. 

In  speaking  of  the  allied  forces  it  is,  of  course, 

[807] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

to  the  French  troops  that  we  must  first  address 
ourselves.  The  most  conspicuous  feature  of  many 
which  struck  the  undisciplined  American  was  the 
remarkable  discipline  of  the  French;  indeed,  so 
striking  was  it  that  even  the  French  themselves 
admitted  that  it  was  unusual,  and  mentioned  it 
with  justifiable  pride.  Lafayette  wrote  to  Ver- 
gennes,  the  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
January  30,  1781:  "The  admirable  discipline  of 
the  French  forces,  besides  the  honor  it  did  to 
Rochambeau  and  his  officers,  fulfilled  an  even 
more  interesting  purpose  since  it  gave  the  Ameri 
can  people  the  best  possible  impression  of  our 
nation."  We  can  imagine  the  satisfaction  with 
which  that  same  gallant  young  officer  must  have 
reported  to  his  adored  Washington,  that  "the 
French  discipline  is  such  that  chickens  and  pigs 
promenade  among  the  tents  without  anyone 
bothering  them,  and  inside  their  camp  there  is  a 
field  of  corn,  not  a  stalk  of  which  has  been  touched." 
"The  deputations  of  Indians  that  visited  our 
camp,"  says  Rochambeau,  "could  not  get  over 
their  astonishment  at  seeing  apple-trees  still  loaded 
with  apples  although  just  above  tents  which  our 
soldiers  had  occupied  for  three  months."  The 
French  army  marched  the  entire  length  of  America 
in  the  best  of  order  and  discipline,  says  the  Due 
de  Lauzun,  "a  prodigy  of  which  neither  the  Eng 
lish  nor  the  American  army  furnished  an  exam- 
[3o8] 


Lafayette. 

From  a  portrait  painted  by  C    W.  Peale,  in  1780,  for  Washington. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

pie."  Count  Fersen  wrote  his  father  from  New 
port:  "We  have  not  yet  had  a  single  complaint 
against  the  troops;  such  discipline  is  admirable 
and  astonishes  the  inhabitants."  Even  the  mod 
esty  of  Rochambeau  did  not  prevent  him  from 
saying  that  "one  may  adduce  as  a  proof  of  the 
incredible  discipline  of  this  army  that  during  three 
entire  campaigns  there  has  not  been  a  sword- 
thrust  nor  a  quarrel  between  a  single  French  sol 
dier  and  an  American  one,"  and  adds  that  "the 
discipline  of  the  French  army  has  been  main 
tained  in  all  its  campaigns.  This  is  due  to  the 
zeal  of  the  Generals,  the  other  officers,  and  certain 
individuals,  and  especially  to  the  fine  spirit  which 
animated  the  soldiers,  which  has  never  once  been 
at  fault."  Chastellux  concurs  in  crediting  the 
example  of  the  officers  with  the  admirable  dis 
cipline  of  their  men:  "The  courage  of  the  Mar 
quis  de  Vaudreuil,  the  good  breeding  which  he 
exemplified,  as  well  as  the  simplicity  and  kindli 
ness  of  his  ways, — an  example  followed  by  the 
officers  of  his  squadron — have,  even  more  than 
was  hoped,  captivated  the  hearts  of  the  people 
who,  although  they  were  pronounced  enemies  of 
the  English,  had  not  until  that  time  been  friends 
with  the  French.  I  have  heard  it  said  a  hundred 
times  in  Boston  that  even  during  the  most  per 
fect  accord  with  London,  never  had  an  English 
man-of-war  anchored  in  this  port  without  vio- 
[3og] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

lent  quarrels  between  the  people  and  the  sailors, 
whilst  the  French  squadron  had  spent  three  months 
there  without  the  slightest  dispute  arising.  Our 
navy  officers  were  received  everywhere  not  only 
as  allies  but  as  brothers."  Chevalier  de  la  Lu- 
zerne,  the  popular  French  Minister,  in  writing  to 
his  government,  gives  a  pleasing  picture  of  this 
spirit  of  confraternity:  "The  people  of  the  States 
through  which  our  divisions  passed  flocked  from 
all  sides  to  see  them,  the  regimental  bands  played 
in  the  evening  wherever  the  troops  camped,  while 
the  inhabitants  mixed  freely  with  the  officers  and 
soldiers,  almost  every  march  terminating  with  a 
dance."  So  careful  a  commander  as  Rochambeau 
did  not  fail  to  appreciate  the  results  effected  by 
his  officers'  efforts:  "Each  soldier  was  reduced  to 
four  ounces  of  bread,  some  rice,  and  some  meat, 
but  endured  these  little  discomforts  with  the 
same  spirit  for  which  most  of  his  officers  had  set 
the  example  when  they  marched  the  whole  of 
this  terrible  trip  on  foot  at  the  head  of  their 
troops."  Nor  was  this  journey  a  holiday  junket, 
says  Robin;  "a  march  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
miles  during  excessive  heat  through  a  country 
almost  without  supplies,  where  the  soldier  often 
lacked  bread  and  was  obliged  to  carry  several 
days'  provisions,  had,  nevertheless,  caused  less 
illness  than  in  French  garrison  towns.  The  care 
taken  by  the  officers  had,  it  is  true,  contributed 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

greatly  to  this,  by  not  permitting  the  soldiers  to 
drink  water  without  some  rum  in  it  to  take  away 
its  unhealthy  nature.  Comte  Saint-Maine  sent 
ahead  at  each  halt  and  each  encampment  to  buy 
barrels  of  cider,  which  he  distributed  to  his  com 
mand  at  a  very  low  price.  This  example  followed 
at  once  by  other  corps,  produced  a  most  advan 
tageous  effect." 

As  showing  how  astute  was  the  French  com 
manding  officer,  let  us  hear  how  the  resourceful 
Rochambeau  handled  some  indiscreet  insubordi 
nation  on  the  part  of  that  delightful  raconteur 
(but  doubtless  trying  subordinate)  Chastellux: 
"But  what  deceived  the  English  generals  the 
most  completely  was  a  letter  which  the  Chevalier 
de  Chastellux  wrote  confidentially  to  the  French 
Minister,  in  which  he  boasted  of  having  been  so 
skilful  as  to  persuade  me  to  conform  my  opinion 
to  General  Washington's,  that  the  siege  of  New 
York  Island  was  finally  decided,  and  that  our  two 
armies  were  going  to  unite  before  that  place,  and 
that  de  Grasse  would  be  written  to  come  with  his 
fleet  and  force  the  Bar  of  Sandy  Hoock  and  the 
entrance  to  New  York  Harbor.  He  complained 
bitterly  and  in  very  unpleasant  terms  of  how  little 
effect  a  man  of  spirit  could  have  upon  the  imperi 
ous  character  of  a  general  who  always  wished  to 
have  his  way !  The  English  secret  service  officer 
sent  me  a  copy  of  this  intercepted  letter;  it  was 
[3n] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

certainly  not  with  the  design  of  establishing  peace 
in  my  household.  I  summoned  the  Chevalier  de 
'Chastel/us'  and  showing  him  this  letter  threw  it 
into  the  fire  and  left  him  a  prey  to  remorse. 
You  can  judge  that  I  did  not  attempt  to  undeceive 
him,  and  you  will  see  in  these  memoirs  just  how 
far  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  real  project 
which  I  proposed  to  the  Comte  de  Grasse." 

Relying  on  the  tried  discipline  of  the  French 
army,  Lafayette,  by  his  timely  advice  to  his  own 
government,  eliminated  the  possibility  of  friction 
between  the  two  armies,  thus  contributing  vastly 
to  their  joint  effectiveness:  "The  French  Lieu 
tenant- General  was  under  the  orders  of  Wash 
ington  just  like  the  American  Major-Generals, 
for  Lafayette,  requesting  troops  to  be  sent,  took 
pains  to  stipulate  in  the  most  positive  manner 
that  they  should  be  entirely  under  Washington's 
orders.  The  Americans  had  the  right  of  line. 
An  American  officer  of  equal  grade  and  date  ranked 
a  French  officer."  Think  of  it !  The  officers  of  a 
trained  body  of  splendid  professional  soldiers, 
gracefully  yielding  precedence  to  the  amateur 
officers  of  a  raw  and  constantly  fluctuating  militia ! 
Can  military  history  show  a  more  admirable  in 
cident  ?  The  only  adverse  comments  upon  French 
discipline  are  a  few  from  the  Comte  de  Revel, 
and  they  only  have  to  do  with  their  troops  landed 
for  a  month's  siege  operations  before  Yorktown. 
FSial 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

He  admits  that  they  "marauded  a  little,  and  one 
could  hardly  blame  them,  because  several  de 
tachments  as  well  as  ours  had  been  tricked  by 
their  purchasing  agents,  and  had  only  lard  and 
spoiled  biscuit."  Let  us  hope  that  he  was  mis 
informed  when  he  tells  us  that  "as  soon  as  the 
town  surrendered  the  wind  became  more  favor 
able  and  Monsieur  de  Mastelli,  commanding  two 
vessels,  entered  the  anchorage.  His  comrades 
reproached  him  with  having  appropriated  all  the 
bells  of  the  ships  anchored  in  the  river,  and  besides, 
many  others  indulged  in  pillage.  A  great  many 
negroes  were  taken  away  and  sold  on  our  return 
in  our  colonies.  The  entire  corps  indulged  in  this 
unseemly  behavior,  and  after  pocketing  the  pro 
ceeds,  secretly  mocked  the  more  scrupulous." 

There  has  undoubtedly  never  in  modern  times 
been  such  a  contrast  between  two  bodies  of  troops 
acting  in  concert  as  that  between  the  brilliant 
French  and  the  ragged  Americans.  We  must  dis 
abuse  our  minds  of  the  notion  gotten  from  picture- 
books  that  the  Americans  were  attired  in  Conti 
nental  buff-and-blue,  because  we  shall  find  that 
the  only  distinctively  American  uniform  was  rags. 
Balch  says  that  when  the  French  troops  first 
reached  the  Hudson  River,  after  their  march 
from  Newport,  "General  Washington  reviewed 
the  two  armies  at  White  Plains.  The  American 
Army,  which  he  inspected  first,  was  composed  of 
[3i3] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

four  thousand  five  hundred  men  at  the  most, 
among  whom  were  many  boys  ('some  even  of  12 
and  13  years  of  age ! '  says  Blanchard)  and  negroes. 
They  had  no  uniforms  and  seemed  badly  equipped. 
In  this  respect  they  made  a  great  contrast  to  the 
French  army,  with  whom  General  Washington 
seemed  very  satisfied.  The  Rhode  Island  regi 
ment  alone  appeared  to  the  French  officers  well 
set  up."  Chastellux  speaks  of  meeting  some  of 
this  same  regiment  at  Hartford  the  next  year: 
"On  crossing  the  ferry  I  met  a  Dutchman  of  the 
Rhode  Island  regiment.  It  is  the  same  body  that 
we  had  with  us  last  year,  but  since  then  it  has  been 
recruited  and  clothed.  The  greater  part  of  the 
soldiers  are  negroes  or  mulattoes,  but  they  are 
strong  and  robust  men,  and  those  which  I  have 
seen  make  an  excellent  appearance."  Baron 
Closen  admires  "the  American  troops, — children, 
blacks,  and  all,"  and  Robin  says:  "In  some  regi 
ments  they  have  companies  of  negroes  but  always 
commanded  by  a  white  man."  It  is  clear  from 
these  three  testimonies  that  our  colored  com 
patriots  fought  as  gallantly  for  their  country  in 
those  early  days  as  they  did  in  the  Spanish  War 
at  San  Juan  Hill  and  the  Caney  Blockhouse,  or 
when  they  made  up  a  fourth  part  of  Commodore 
Perry's  heroes  on  Lake  Erie !  They  certainly 
cut  a  far  nobler  figure  in  our  history  than  did  the 
Tory  families  of  our  seaboard  cities,  who,  now  as 
[34] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

then,  would  be  horrified  to  hear  that  those  col 
ored  patriots  have  more  right  to  our  respect  and 
gratitude  than  some  of  those  so-called  "Oldest 
Families !" 

Lafayette's  description  of  the  difference  be 
tween  the  English  and  American  troops  affords 
only  one  of  the  many  proofs  of  how  he  took  to 
heart  anything  touching  the  American  cause:  "In 
New  York  City,  a  numerous  English  garrison  lived 
sumptuously  whilst  a  few  hundred  Americans, 
badly  clothed  and  badly  fed,  wandered  about  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  Newly  recruited  from 
Europe  and  abundantly  furnished  with  every 
thing,  the  English  Army  in  Philadelphia  consisted 
of  about  eight  thousand  men;  that  of  Valley 
Forge  was  reduced  to  five  thousand.  The  un 
fortunate  soldiers  lacked  coats,  hats,  shirts,  shoes 
—everything.  Their  feet  and  legs  turned  black 
from  the  frost  and  often  had  to  be  amputated. 
Lacking  money,  they  had  neither  food  nor  means 
for  transporting  it.  For  whole  days  together  ra 
tions  were  lacking  to  the  Army,  and  the  patient 
virtue  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  was  a  continu 
ing  miracle,  renewed  every  instant."  "The  men 
are  without  coats,  shoes  or  arms,"  wrote  Fersen 
to  his  father.  Pontgibaud  also  paints  a  pitiful 
picture  of  the  American  troops  during  the  dread 
ful  winter  at  Valley  Forge:  "Soon  I  came  in  sight 
of  the  camp.  My  imagination  had  pictured  an 
[3i51 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

army  with  uniforms,  the  glitter  of  arms,  standards, 
etc., — in  short,  military  pomp  of  all  sorts.  In 
stead  of  the  imposing  spectacle  thus  anticipated, 
I  saw  grouped  together  or  alone,  a  few  militiamen, 
poorly  clad  and  for  the  most  part  without  shoes, 
many  of  them  badly  armed  but  supplied  with  pro 
visions,  and  I  noticed  that  tea  and  sugar  formed 
part  of  their  rations.  In  passing  through  the  camp 
I  also  remarked  soldiers  with  cotton  night-caps  un 
der  their  hats  and  some  wearing,  instead  of  cloaks 
or  great-coats,  coarse  woollen  blankets  exactly 
like  those  provided  for  the  patients  in  our  French 
hospitals; — I  learned  later  that  these  were  the 
officers  and  generals.  Such,  in  strict  truth,  was, 
at  the  time  I  came  amongst  them,  the  appearance 
of  this  armed  mob,  the  leader  of  whom  was  he 
who  has  rendered  the  name  of  Washington  fa 
mous.  Such  were  the  colonists — unskilled  warriors 
who  learned  in  a  few  years  to  conquer  the  finest 
troops  that  England  could  send  against  them." 

Distressing  as  was  the  state  of  our  men  at 
Valley  Forge,  that  low-water  mark  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  the  Comte  de  Revel  shows  how  slightly  con 
ditions  had  improved  by  the  time  of  the  glorious 
victory  at  Yorktown:  "I  mounted  guard  at  the 
tavern  which  was  behind  our  camp  until,  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  I  was  relieved  by  the 
Americans  who  arrived  to  camp  on  our  left  to  the 
number  of  six  hundred  men.  This  troop,  as  poor 
[3i6] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

as  one  could  imagine,  looked  exactly  like  our 
trained  bands  which  mount  guard  in  certain 
cities.  Armed  with  guns,  three-quarters  of  which 
had  no  bayonets,  without  uniforms,  without  any 
distinctive  badge  for  their  officers,  without  tents, 
it  seemed  nothing  more  than  a  gathering  of  poor 
country-folk,  each  bringing  in  his  bag  something 
to  live  upon  for  a  few  days,  and  each  constructing 
for  himself  a  hut  of  tree  branches.  They  knew 
how  to  break  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  and  to 
go  through  a  sort  of  manual  of  arms."  Robin, 
who,  for  a  priest,  always  showed  great  interest 
in  dress,  is  for  that  reason  especially  qualified  to 
discourse  to  us  upon  the  appearance  of  our  an 
cestors:  ''These  troops  have  as  yet  no  regular 
uniforms.  The  officers  and  men  of  the  artillery 
are  the  only  ones  who  have  it.  Several  regiments 
have  little  white  fringed  tunics  which  look  rather 
well.  The  trousers — of  cloth — are  wide,  so  as  not 
to  incommode  them  in  warm  weather,  and  be 
cause  not  interfering  with  the  play  of  the  legs 
while  marching  they,  on  food  less  substantial  and 
of  a  temperament  less  vigorous  than  ours,  are 
able  to  endure  more  fatigue  than  we."  Baron 
Closen  comments:  "The  Americans  suffered  by 
comparison  with  our  army  both  in  appearance 
and  equipment,  for  most  of  these  unfortunates 
had  only  white  cloth  jackets,  dirty  and  ragged, 
and  many  were  barefooted.  But  what  of  that? 
[3i7] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

the  sensible  man  will  ask — they  are  all  the  more 
praiseworthy  and  brave  for  fighting  as  they  do 
when  so  poorly  equipped  in  every  respect." 
Gerard,  the  French  Minister,  in  a  private  despatch 
to  his  government,  dated  August  12,  1778,  gives 
it  as  his  opinion  that  "the  people  of  America  are 
in  general  too  easy-going  for  the  profession  of 
soldiering.  Each  soldier  after  his  service  of  six 
months  with  the  army  takes  his  clothing  home 
with  him.  The  colonies  are  peopled  with  country 
folk  in  uniform,  and  the  army  is  without  them. 
It  has  already  been  provided  with  enough  to 
clothe  100,000  men." 

This  absence  of  uniforms  and  generally  dishev 
elled  appearance  of  our  men  comes  out  with  dra 
matic  clearness  upon  the  occasion  of  the  culmi 
nating  episode  of  the  War,  the  day  of  Cornwallis's 
surrender,  when  against  Washington's  inclination, 
but  upon  Lafayette's  insistence,  the  English  army 
were  required  to  march  out  between  the  lines  of 
the  allied  armies  and  lay  down  their  arms.  It 
inflames  our  pride  and  yet  touches  our  pity  to 
read  of  the  appearance  of  our  ancestors  in  that 
historic  scene.  Hear  Robin's  account  of  it:  "The 
two  lines  of  the  combined  army  extended  more 
than  a  mile.  The  Americans  had  the  right  of  the 
line.  Their  inequality  in  age  and  height,  the  lack 
of  uniformity  in  their  ranks,  and  their  ragged 
clothing  made  the  French  appear  to  advantage, 
[3i81 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

who,  in  spite  of  their  fatigue,  always  presented  a 
neat,  warlike  and  vigorous  appearance.  We  were 
all  struck  by  the  good  condition  of  the  English 
troops,  their  number  and  cleanliness.  We  had 
not  supposed  that  they  were  more  than  three 
thousand.  Cornwallis  had  ordered  the  military 
stores  to  be  opened  to  the  soldiers  before  the  sur 
render.  Each  of  them,  therefore,  wore  a  new 
uniform,  but  this  very  smartness  of  dress  seemed 
to  humiliate  them  the  more  when  contrasted  with 
the  distressing  condition  of  the  Americans.  They 
were  ashamed  to  raise  their  eyes  to  their  con 
querors.  One  after  another  they  laid  down  their 
arms  in  the  agreed  place;  care  had  been  taken  to 
keep  spectators  away  to  diminish  their  humilia 
tion.  The  English  officers  on  their  way  back  had 
the  manners  to  salute  even  the  lowest  French 
officers,  something  which  they  did  not  do  to  Ameri 
can  officers  even  of  the  highest  grade." 

It  is  most  gratifying  to  find  in  several  of  the 
French  authors  the  frank  and  friendly  admission 
that  the  American  losses  at  Yorktown  were  equal 
to  those  of  the  French  troops;  we,  on  our  part, 
must  with  equal  frankness,  remember  that  the 
American  column,  which  in  the  final  assault  sus 
tained  most  of  our  losses,  was  led  by  Lafayette ! 
Aucteville  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  composi 
tion  of  our  army  and  its  qualities :  "The  Republic's 
army  was  composed  of  four  distinct  groups, — the 
[3i9] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

American  regiments  of  regulars,  disciplined,  drilled, 
tried,  fit  for  line  of  battle,  formed  a  body  of  about 
sixteen  hundred  men;  150  dragoons,  well  mounted, 
drilled,  and  good  horsemen;  twenty-five  hundred 
militiamen  and  five  hundred  riflemen — a  sort  of 
mounted  light  infantry.  These  two  last  bodies 
of  men  are  not  uniformed,  wear  large  trousers, 
with  or  without  shoes.  The  last-named  form 
especially  excellent  infantry  men, — good  shots, 
fit  for  skirmishing  in  the  woods,  but  not  for  line 
of  battle.  Very  few  of  these  troops  have  tents, 
almost  all  camping  in  huts  of  grass  or  leaves.  All 
are  sober  and  patient,  live  on  corn-bread,  undergo 
privations  or  delays  without  murmuring,  are 
capable  of  fatigue  and  long  marches, — valuable 
qualities  which  make  of  them  an  infantry  which  is 
unusually  mobile  in  character.  Besides,  they  pre 
sent  a  good  appearance  and  most  of  them  are  fine 
looking  men."  "All  their  soldiers  struck  me," 
says  the  Prince  de  Broglie,  "as  fine-looking,  robust 
and  well  selected, — the  sentinels  all  carried  them 
selves  well."  General  Dumas  speaks  several  times 
of  the  intelligence  displayed  by  American  officers. 
Perrin  du  Lac  pays  a  compliment  to  the  marksman 
ship  of  our  troops  in  his  comment  that  among  the 
factories  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  was  one  for 
"rifles,  used  by  the  westerners  and  by  some  of  the 
Indian  tribes  for  hunting.  It  was  to  this  murder 
ous  weapon  that  the  Americans  owed  several  of 
[820] 


Reduced  from  copperplates  of  French  sketches  of  American 
military  types. 

From  the  collection  of  the  author. 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA* 

their  victories  in  the  War  of  Independence—* -their 
skill  in  its  use  is  so  great  that  it  must  be  seen  to 
be  believed." 

The  few  words  which  Rochambeau  employs  in 
summing  up  his  opinion  of  the  American  forces 
are  a  credit  to  the  magnanimity  of  that  singularly 
modest  and  efficient  leader:  "One  should  do  the 
Americans  the  justice  to  say  that  they  conducted 
themselves  with  a  zeal  and  courage  and  an  emu 
lation  which  never  left  them  behind  others  in  all 
the  work  allotted  to  them,  although  they  were 
strangers  to  siege  operations."  This  proves  how 
thoroughly  they  justified  Lafayette's  prediction  to 
Vergennes,  the  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Af 
fairs,  written  from  New  Windsor,  January  30, 1781, 
which  was  as  discriminating  as  it  was  commenda 
tory:  "I  feel  myself  in  duty  bound  to  adjust 
your  ideas  upon  the  American  troops  and  upon 
the  part  which  they  will  take  in  the  operations  of 
the  next  campaign.  The  Continental  regiments 
are  as  brave  and  as  well  disciplined  as  those  who 
oppose  them.  More  hardy,  more  patient  than 
Europeans,  they  need  not  be  compared  in  these 
two  respects  with  them.  They  have  some  offi 
cers  of  merit  who  (besides  those  who  have  served 
in  the  late  colonial  wars)  are  aided  by  natural 
ability  and  trained  by  the  daily  experience  of 
several  campaigns  in  which,  the  armies  being 
small  and  the  country  difficult,  all  the  light  bat- 

[321] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 


taiions  served  as  advance  guard  and  skirmishers. 
The  recruits  which  we  are  awaiting  have  fre 
quently  served  in  the  same  regiments  to  which 
they  are  now  returning,  and  have  been  oftener 
under  fire  than  three-quarters  of  European  sol 
diers.  As  for  the  militia,  it  is  nothing  but  armed 
peasants  with  some  experience  in  fighting,  who, 
although  not  lacking  in  ardor  or  discipline,  will 
be  best  employed  in  siege  operations.  There, 
Monsieur  le  Comte,  is  the  truthful  picture  I  feel 
in  duty  bound  to  give  you,  and  which  it  is  not  to 
my  interest  to  touch  up  because  there  will  be 
more  glory  to  have  succeeded  with  poor  material. 
The  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne,  who  has  himself 
seen  our  soldiers  and  will  give  you  an  exact  and 
disinterested  account  of  them,  will  surely  say  as 
I  do  that  you  can  rely  upon  our  regular  troops." 
Segur  arrived  just  as  the  war  was  concluding, 
and  could,  therefore,  tell  us  of  what  the  training 
of  those  seven  years  of  conflict  had  effected:  "I 
had  expected  to  see  in  this  camp  awkward  sol 
diers,  untrained  officers,  republicans  lacking  that 
urbanity  which  is  common  to  our  older  civilized 
countries.  I  recalled  those  first  days  of  their 
revolution  when  laborers  and  artisans  who  had 
never  handled  a  gun,  without  waiting  for  orders, 
rushed  in  the  name  of  country  to  attack  the  Brit 
ish  phalanxes,  to  whose  astonished  gaze  they 
seemed  mere  masses  of  rustics  with  no  military 
[3221 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

insignia  but  hats  bearing  the  device  'Liberty.' 
You  can,  therefore,  judge  my  surprise  at  finding 
a  disciplined  army  whose  every  detail  revealed 
order,  reason,  training,  and  experience.  The 
generals,  their  staffs,  and  all  the  other  officers 
showed  in  their  bearing  and  discourse  a  certain 
nobility  and  modesty,  and  that  natural  goodwill 
which  is  to  me  preferable  to  a  politeness  whose 
sweet  face  is  but  a  mask  which  one  is  forced  to 
make  amiable.  This  dignity  of  each  individual, 
this  pride  inspired  by  love  of  liberty  and  the  sen 
timent  of  equality  had  not  caused  the  slightest 
difficulty  for  the  Chief,  who  commanded  them 
without  arousing  their  discontent.  To  appreciate 
Washington's  genius  and  wisdom  it  is  enough  to 
say  that  throughout  all  the  difficulties  of  a  revo 
lutionary  war,  he  has  for  seven  years  commanded 
the  army  of  a  free  people  without  giving  his  coun 
try  reason  for  alarm,  and  without  causing  Congress 
to  mistrust  him."  An  anecdote  from  General 
Dumas' s  memoirs  shows  how  greatly  Washing 
ton  respected  the  position  he  occupied:  "General 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  sent  a  despatch  addressed  to 
'Mr.'  Washington.  Taking  it  from  the  bearer  of 
the  flag  of  truce,  and  noticing  the  direction, — 
'This  letter,'  said  he,  'is  directed  to  a  Virginia 
planter.  I  shall  have  it  delivered  to  him  after 
the  end  of  the  war;  till  that  time  it  shall  not  be 
opened.'  A  second  despatch  was  directed  to 
[3231 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

His  Excellency  General  Washington!"  All  the 
Frenchmen,  with  but  one  exception,  were  most 
enthusiastic  in  their  praise  of  Washington  as  a 
leader,  and  their  appreciation  of  him  as  a  man. 
Bayard  alone  thought  that  posterity  would  not 
confirm  the  high  opinion  of  him  entertained  by 
his  contemporaries.  Chateaubriand's  account  of 
our  national  hero,  after  a  dinner  at  his  house,  is 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all,  for  he  in 
dulges  in  an  extensive  comparison  between  Wash 
ington  and  Napoleon,  both  of  whom  he  knew 
personally.  His  conclusions  are  entirely  in  favor 
of  the  former  because  of  his  constructive  career, 
as  contrasted  with  Napoleon's  destructive  one. 
"Washington,"  says  he,  "has  left  behind  him 
the  United  States  as  the  great  trophy  won  on  his 
battlefields";  "the  republic  he  founded  endures, 
while  the  empire  of  Napoleon  is  destroyed." 

Brissot  throws  a  final  comprehensive  picture  on 
the  screen,  and  shows  us  the  citizen  returning  to 
his  ordinary  life  and  exchanging  the  rifle  for  the 
plough:  "The  ravages  of  this  seven  years'  war 
have  been  terrible,  but  as  soon  as  the  sword  could 
be  turned  into  a  ploughshare  the  earth  yielded 
its  produce  and  misery  disappeared.  American 
soldiers  were  citizens  and  landholders  before 
being  soldiers.  They  remained  citizens  while  in 
uniform,  and  when  they  quitted  it  returned  each 
to  his  own  home.  It  was  not  for  money  that  they 
[3a4] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

fought,  nor  as  a  profession,  but  for  their  liberty, 
their  wives,  their  children,  their  lands, — and  such 
soldiers  in  no  wise  resemble  the  bandits  of  the 
old  continent,  who  are  paid  to  kill  their  fellow- 
men,  and  who  killed  on  the  high  roads  on  their 
own  account  when  peace  compelled  their  employ 
ers  to  discharge  them.  We  have  seen  in  America 
what  the  history  of  the  world  shows  in  no  other 
country  except  ancient  Rome — a  General  adored 
by  his  soldiers  relinquishing  his  power  when  it 
was  no  longer  needed  and  retiring  to  peaceful 
private  life;  we  have  seen  a  numerous  army 
which  was  paid  nothing,  generously  agree  to  sepa 
rate  without  payment  and  its  soldiers  retire  to 
their  homes  without  committing  any  disorder, 
each  tranquilly  betaking  himself  either  to  his  cart 
or  other  original  occupation — occupations  which 
we  consider  menial  in  Europe."  This  service 
without  pay  was  nothing  new,  but  had  existed 
as  early  as  1775,  when  Bonvouloir,  a  secret  agent 
sent  to  America  by  the  French  Government,  dis 
guised  as  an  Antwerp  merchant,  reported  that  in 
addition  to  our  paid  troops  we  had  "a  large  num 
ber  of  volunteers  who  want  no  pay — you  can 
judge  how  well  people  of  that  stamp  will  fight!" 
There  are  almost  no  references  by  our  French 
authors  to  an  American  federal  navy,  as  dis- 
tinguished  from  privateers,  and  indeed  it  was  a 
negligible  quantity  during  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
[325] 


FRENCH  MEMORIES  OF 

lution.  Of  the  thirteen  frigates  authorized  in 
1775,  nine  never  got  fairly  to  sea,  being  destroyed 
by  our  own  men  or  by  the  English  mostly  before 
they  had  received  their  armament.  There  are 
many  passages  in  these  French  writers,  however, 
which  are  of  great  value  to  an  historian  of  the 
American  navy,  for  they  unintentionally  reveal 
how  it  was  that  a  nation  having  no  regular  fleet 
in  1781  should  have  added  such  a  glorious  naval 
page  to  its  history  in  1812.  We  have  discussed 
this  amazing  transformation  when  considering 
our  ancestors'  skill  in  ship-building,  but  it  is  not 
foreign  to  our  present  purpose  to  remark  here 
that  American  ship-building,  even  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution,  had  acquired  great  fame  abroad, 
where  many  of  our  ships  were  sold.  We  learn 
from  Robin  that  before  the  Revolution  it  was 
from  Boston  that  Great  Britain  obtained  masts 
and  yards  for  her  navy.  Constant  reference  is 
also  made  by  St.  Mery  and  others  to  the  large 
number  of  excellent  seamen  which  our  flourish 
ing  coastwise  trade  was  constantly  training. 
Furthermore,  although  the  navy  had  hardly  ex 
isted  during  the  Revolution,  privateering  was 
carried  on  to  such  an  extent  that  three  hundred 
vessels  were  engaged  in  it,  according  to  the  des 
patch  of  October  17,  1778,  sent  by  the  French 
Minister,  Gerard,  to  his  Foreign  Office.  But  even 
so  late  as  Beaujour's  observations  during  the 
[826] 


EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  AMERICA 

opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  had 
"difficulty  in  keeping  up  a  flotilla  of  a  few  frig 
ates  and  an  Army  which  could  not  be  compared 
in  number  with  that  of  even  a  German  prince. 
Their  Navy  is  really  only  in  miniature,  and  their 
Army  but  a  skeleton  formation."  He  foresees, 
however,  the  possibility  of  that  rapid  increase 
and  strengthening  of  our  navy  which  only  a 
couple  of  years  thereafter  was  to  become  so 
powerful:  "The  Navy  of  the  United  States  is 
only  in  miniature;  it  consists  of  but  seven  or 
eight  frigates,  the  same  number  of  corvettes, 
some  galleys  for  bomb-throwing  and  a  few  gun 
boats,  the  whole  amounting  to  about  four  thousand 
men  and  five  hundred  cannon.  This  feeble  navy 
is  hardly  comparable  to  that  of  Algeria,  by  which 
it  is  continually  insulted,  but  the  Americans  could 
easily  possess  a  much  stronger  one,  because  they 
have  all  the  necessary  material  for  constructing 
the  vessels  and  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  sail 
ors  to  man  them.  Adding  up  the  different  armed 
forces  on  land  and  sea,  the  total  is  now  only  about 
nine  thousand  men, — that  is  to  say,  there  is 
in  the  United  States  hardly  more  than  one  man 
in  a  thousand  employed  in  military  service,  while 
there  is  not  a  country  of  Europe  with  less  than 
one  in  one  hundred." 

There  are  those,  to-day,  who  urge  that  national 
defense  (without  which  there  can  be  no  national 


FRENCH  MEMORIES 

self-respect)  does  not  need  a  strong  navy,  both 
constructed  and  in  construction.  They  should 
not  forget  that  the  two  months  needed  to  build  a 
ship  in  the  glorious  days  of  1812  differs  so  widely 
from  the  two  or  three  years  now  required  for  that 
same  purpose  as  to  make  all  the  difference  be 
tween  a  country  always  ready  to  preserve  its 
dignity  and  one  liable  to  many  millions  of  loss 
from  raids  upon  its  seaport  towns  during  those 
years  spent  in  constructing  what  should  already 
exist  1 


[828 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

FRENCH  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  AND  RECORDS 
EXAMINED 

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Archives,  Ministere  de  la  Guerre,  Paris. 
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AUBERTEUIL,  Hilliard  d':  "Essais  Historiques  et  Politiques  sur 
les  Anglo- America  ins."  Brussels.  1782.  Two  volumes  and 
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AUCTEVILLE,  Chevalier  de:  "Journal  de  la  Campagne  de  la 
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BALCH,  Thomas:  "Les  Frangais  en  Amerique."  Paris,  Phila 
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BEAUJOUR,  le  Chevalier  Felix  de:  "Apergu  des  Etats-Unis,"  etc. 
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BEAUREPAIRE,  Chevalier  Quesnay  de:  "Memoires."  Paris,  1788. 
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166,  etc. 

BERQUIN-DUVALLON:  "Vue  de  la  colonie  espagnole  du  Missis 
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/  ,  •  -v     t       •« 

Siecle. 

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Bossu:  "Nouveaux  Voyages."  Amsterdam  and  Paris,  1778.  One 
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[329] 


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(BouRG,  Baron  Cromot  du):  "Journal  de  mon  Sejour  en  Ame- 
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M.  N.  (Captain  M.  BOURGEOIS):  "Voyages  interessans,"  etc. 
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BRISSOT,  J.  P.:  "Memoires  sur  les  noirs  de  1' Amerique  Septen- 
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"BRISSOT,  J.  P.:  Correspondance  et  Papiers."  Cl.  Perroud. 
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BRISSOT,  J.  P.:  "Examen  critique  des  voyages  de  Chastellux." 
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BRISSOT,  J.  P.  (Warville):  "Nouveau  Voyage  dans  les  Etats- 
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CHASTELLUX,  Marquis  de:  "Voyages  de  M.  le  Marquis  de 
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[33o] 


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CREVECCEUR,  M.  St.  John  de:  "Lettres  d'un  Cultivateur  Ameri- 
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DUMAS,  Lt.-Gen.  Comte  Mathieu:  "Souvenirs."  1839.  Three 
volumes. 

Du  PETIT-THOUARS,  Chevalier  Aristide-Aubert:  "Memoires  et 
Voyages."  Paris,  1822.  One  volume,  404  pages.  (Pref 
ace  speaks  of  two  other  volumes  but  they  were  never 
published.) 

DUPONT  DE  NEMOURS,  Pierre  Samuel :  "  Sur  1'Education  Nationale 
dans  les  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique."  Paris,  1812.  One  volume, 
159  pages.  Written  in  1800  at  Jefferson's  request. 

FAUCHET,  Joseph:  "Coup  d'ceil  sur  1'etat  actuel  de  nos  rapports 
politiques  avec  les  Etats-Unis."  Paris,  1797. 

FERSEN,  Comte  Axel:  "Diary  arid  Correspondence."  Boston, 
1902.  One  volume,  355  pages. 

GOUSSENCOURT,  Chevalier  de:  "Journal."     New  York,  1864. 

[33il 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

GRASSE,  Comte  de:  "Memoires."  Archives  Nationales,  Marine, 
151,  86;  6397.  Also  a  few  copies  printed  for  use  at  his 
court-martial. 

JACQUEMART,  Nicolas  Frangois,  see  Roux. 

JUSSERAND,  J.  J.:  "Rochambeau  in  America,  from  unpublished 
documents."  Washington,  1912.  One  volume,  52  pages. 

JUSSERAND,  J.  J.:  "Washington  and  the  French,"  in  "Exercises 
for  the  Birthday  of  Washington,"  Union  League  Club, 
Chicago,  1912. 

KALB,  Baron  de,  see  Colleville. 

LAFAYETTE,  General:  "Memoires,  Correspondance  et  Manu- 
scrits."  Paris,  1837.  Six  volumes,  495,  504,  520,  448,  544, 
and  814  pages. 

LAMETH,  Theodore  de:  "Memoires."  Paris,  1913.  One  volume, 
329  pages. 

LAUZUN,  Due  de:  "Memoires."    Paris,  1858.    One  volume,  409 

pages. 
B..  D..  (LOZIERES,  Baudry  des) :  "Voyage  a  la  Louisiane,  etc.,  1794 

a  1798."     Paris,  1802.    One  volume,  382  pages. 

LOZIERES,  Baudry  des:  "Second  Voyage  &  la  Louisiane,"  etc. 
Paris,  1803.  Two  volumes,  414  and  410  pages. 

M.  Jh.  M.  (MANDRILLON,  M.  Jh.):  "Le  Voyageur  Americain," 
etc.  Amsterdam,  1782.  One  volume,  197  and  166  pages. 
Purports  to  be  a  translation  from  an  anonymous  English 
book  written  by  order  of  Lord  Chatham,  the  Prime  Minister. 

M.  Jh.  M.  (MANDRILLON,  M.  Jh.):  "Le  Spectateur  Americain," 
etc.  Amsterdam,  1784.  One  volume,  128,  307,  and  91 
pages.  "Par  M.  Jh.  M.  Negotiant  a  Amsterdam  et  Membre 
de  1' Academic  de  Bourg-en-Bresse." 

MARCHAND,  Etienne:  "Voyage  autour  du  moiide,"  etc.  Paris, 
1798.  Six  volumes,  294,  529,  474,  494,  559,  and  158  pages  and 
many  maps. 

MARNEZIA,  Marquis  de  Lazay:  "Voyage,"  etc.    Paris,  1792. 

MARNEZIA,  Claude  Francois  Adrien,  Marquis  de  Lazay:  "Lettres 
ecrites  des  Rives  de  1'Ohio."  Fort  Pitt  and  Paris.  An  IX  de 
la  Republique  (1800).  One  volume,  144  pages. 

(MAZZEI,  M.):  "Recherches  Historiques  et  Politiques  sur  les 
Etats-Unis."  Colle  and  Paris,  1788.  Four  volumes,  384, 
259,  292,  and  366  pages.  "Par  un  Citoyen  de  Virginie." 

MENONVILLE,  Comte  de:  "Journal."  Published  in  vol.  IV  and 
vol.  VII  of  Magazine  of  American  History.  Paris,  1802. 

[3321 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

MICHAUX,  Andre:  "  Memoires,  1787-1797."  American  Philosoph 
ical  Society  Proceedings,  1889,  pages  1-145.  Notes  pre 
sented  by  his  son  to  Society  in  1824. 

MICHAUX,  Francois  Andre:  "Voyages  a  1' Quest  des  Monts  Al- 
leghanys,"  etc.  Paris,  1804.  One  volume,  312  pages. 

MILFORT,  le  Gal.:  "Memoire  ou  Coup  d'ceil  rapide  sur  mes  dif- 
ferens  voyages,"  etc.  Paris,  1802.  One  volume,  332  pages. 

MORE,  Comte  de:  "Memoires  (1758-1837)."  Paris,  1898.  One 
volume,  339  pages.  A  reprint. 

NOAILLES,  Vicomte  de:  "Marins  et  Soldats  Francais  en  Ame- 
rique."  Paris,  1903.  One  volume,  439  pages. 

PONTGIBAUD:  "Memoires  du  Comte  de  M."  1828.  See  More, 
Comte  de. 

PONTGIBAUD,  The  Chevalier  de:  "A  French  Volunteer  of  the 
War  of  Independence."  Paris,  1897.  One  volume,  209  pages. 

PREVELAYE,  Marquis  de  la:  "  Memoire  sur  la  campagne  de  Boston 
en  1778." 

REVEL,  Joachim  du  Perron,  Comte  de:  "Journal  Particulier." 
Paris,  undated.  One  volume,  287  pages. 

ROBIN,  M.  1'Abbe:  "Nouveau  Voyage  dans  I'Amerique  Septen- 
trionale."  Philadelphia  and  Paris,  1782.  One  volume,  222 
pages. 

ROCHAMBEAU,  Marechal  de  France:  "Memoires  Militaires, 
Historiques  et  Politiques."  Paris,  1809.  Two  volumes, 
437  and  395  pages. 

RocHEFOucAULD-LiANCouRT,  (Due  de)  La:  "Voyage  dans  les 
Etats-Unis  d'Amerique."  Paris,  1799.  Eight  volumes,  365, 
349,  384,  349,  400,  336,  366,  and  244  pages. 

ROSTAING,  M.  de:  "Journal."    Archives  1'Inst.  Guerre. 
(Roux,  Sergeant-Major):    "Le  Nouveau  Mississipi,  ...  par  un 

Patriote  Voyageur."     Paris,  1790.     One  volume,  44  pages. 
ST.  MERY,  Moreau  de:  "Voyage  aux  Etats-Unis  de  I'Amerique." 

1793-1788.    New  Haven,  1914.    One  volume,  440  pages. 

SAVARiN,Brillat:  "Physiologic  duGout."  Paris,  1853.  One  vol 
ume,  526  pages. 

SEGUR,  Comte  de:  "Memoires,  ou  Souvenirs  et  Anecdotes." 
Paris,  1826.  Three  volumes,  488,  438,  and  601  pages. 

SOULES,  Francois:  "Histoire  des  Troubles  de  1'Amerique  An- 
glaise."  Paris,  1787.  Four  volumes,  379,  365,  420,  272,  and 
36  pages. 

STATE  DEPARTMENT,  documents  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

[333] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

TALLEYRAND,  Prince  de:  "Memoires,"  etc.  Paris,  1891.  Five 
volumes,  457,  567,  469,  499,  and  650  pages. 

TOUR  DU  PIN,  Marquise  de  la:  "Journal  d'une  femme  de  cin- 
quante  ans."  Paris,  1914.  Two  volumes,  405  and  391 
pages. 

VOLNEY,  C.  F.:  "Tableau  du  Climat  et  du  Sol  des  Etats-Unis." 
Paris,  1803.  Two  volumes,  532  pages,  consecutively  num 
bered. 

NOTE. — The  above  list  generally  excludes  memoirs  written  by 
Frenchmen  who  had  not  visited  the  United  States,  because 
their  comments  on  American  customs  and  manners  were  at 
second  hand.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  there  has  also  been 
examined  such  pertinent  material  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  Biblio- 
theque  Nationale,  Paris,  the  Boston  Public  Library,  the  Library 
of  Congress,  Washington,  Harvard  University  Library,  the  New 
York  Historical  Society  Library,  the  New  York  Public  Library, 
the  Library  of  the  State  Department,  Washington,  etc. 

SOME  OF  THE  AUTHORITIES  IN  ENGLISH 
CONSULTED 

BALDWIN,  Governor  Simeon  E.:  "The  authorship  of  the  Quatre 
Lettresd'  un  Bourgeois  de  New-Heaven,"  etc.  New  Haven, 
1900. 

BRADLEY:  "The  Fight  with  France  for  North  America."  New 
York,  1902. 

DURAND:  "New  Materials  for  the  History  of  the  American 
B evolution,  translated  from  Documents  in  the  French  Ar 
chives."  New  York,  1889. 

FOSDICK,  L.  J.:  "The  French  Blood  in  America."  New  York, 
1911. 

GARDINER,  General  Asa  Bird:  "The  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  in 
France."  1905. 

GIRBS:  "Memoirs  of  the  Administrations  of  Washington  and 
Adams." 

PERKINS,  J.  B.:  "France  in  the  American  Revolution."  Boston 
and  New  York,  1911. 

ROSENGARTEN,  J.  G.:  "French  Colonists  and  Exiles  in  the 
United  States."  Philadelphia,  1907. 

ROSENTHAL,  Lewis:  "America  and  France."     New  York,  1882. 

[334] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

SPARKS,  Jared:   "Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  American 
Revolution."     Boston,  1829. 

STEVENS,  B.  F.:   "Fac-simile  of  MSS.  in  European  Archives 
relating  to  America,  1773-1783." 

THWAITE,  R.  G:  "Early  Western  Travels,  1748-1846."     Cleve 
land,  1904. 

TOWER,  Hon.   Charlemagne:   "The  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  in 
the  American  Revolution."     Philadelphia,  1901. 

TRESCOTT:    "Diplomatic    History    of    the    Administrations    of 
Washington  and  Adams." 

TUCKERMAN,   H. :   "America  and  Her   Commentators."     New 
York,  1861. 

TURNER,  F.  J.:  "Correspondence  of  the  French  Ministers  to 
the  U.  S.     1791-1797." 

TYLER,  Moses  Coit:   "Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion." 

WINSOR,  Justin:  "Reader's  Handbook  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion." 


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